


Hunting the Heart

by Stareyedwolf



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Animal Death, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, animals are gutted and then consumed, goku isnt stupid, he’s just an alien, saiyans gotta eat, this is a wip and idk where its goin so STRAP IN
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-02-09 12:01:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12887445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stareyedwolf/pseuds/Stareyedwolf
Summary: After Buu’s defeat, Vegeta finally lets go of all the hatred, the anger, the frustration. Goku— Kakarot— the last pure Saiyajin besides himself, abruptly leaves his family not long after his revival. The Prince of all Saiyans follows behind him, secretly wishing to make amends for the years of his unwarrented ire towards the man he owes the most.Meanwhile, Bulma and the Z-gang struggle to understand Goku’s decision to leave them all behind, hoping against hope that they aren’t part of the reason why he has suddenly left. Endless tiny misunderstandings have piled into a mountain that now divides the heart from their group.At the center of it all, Goku struggles to come to terms with being alive again, no longer knowing his family, and the never-ending battle to try and understand the people he has known for his entire life.What do you do when you’re mute, and everyone else is deaf?





	1. Chapter 1

“So you’re telling me that Goku hasn’t been home in two weeks?” Bulma asked, confusion lacing her tone. Chichi was pouring them both a refill of hot tea that she had insisted on making with her own hands, despite the fact that Bulma had more butlers and maids on staff than the entire population of Mt. Paozu.

A sigh burst out of the former princess. “Yes. I figured since Buu was gone and Goku was finally back bein’ alive and all, that we’d get to spend some time together. But he just ain’t interested.”

Bulma honestly couldn’t decide if she was surprised or not. Goku had flitted in and out of all their lives since she had met him as a boy. He would disappear for years at a time without a word, and not just because he was dead.

He had left when he was 15, only to reappear three years later completely unrecognizable. Then he had married Chichi and vanished for another four years. Then he had died for a year, and then he was on his way to Namek and vanished for another year. So much time passed without him being around.

It was a wonder that Gohan even knew his father. She wondered if the boy, now a man, truly did know his father. Goku’s second son certainly didn’t.

“To be honest, I don’t think he was _ever_ interested.” Chichi sighed again, much more sadly this time.

“Chichi, don’t say that. I’m sure he’s just lost track of time, wherever he is.”

“That’s the problem, Bulma! How can he forget us so easily?! We’re his family! Don’t we mean anythin’ to him?!” Chichi’s eyes reddened, watering up.

Bulma immediately shot up and wrapped Chichi in a hug. It was all she could do. She had no advice to give, only physical comfort. Her own relationship with Vegeta was practically nonexistent. They lived in the same house, but that was it. Sometimes they passed each other in the halls, and sometimes they sat in the same room. But Vegeta was closed off, as always. Once, she had thought that they could have something together. With the birth of Trunks, that hope had only grown. But Vegeta had gradually snuffed it out over time.

He was as cold to her as ever. Trunks idolized him, and always wanted more time with his father. He wanted to talk, to train, to follow. It didn’t matter, as long as Vegeta was there. But the callous Prince didn’t want to do anything but train and battle.

Bulma refused to let him beat his son black and blue, and as such, Vegeta’s relationship with his son only existed under her suspicious gaze and the many security cameras inside Capsule Corp. Vegeta himself was eternally frustrated with this, and she wondered how he had been raised, to think that violence was the only way to express fatherly affection.

Surely Goku wasn’t the same? She wouldn’t be able to know, with as distant as the man was. She was now realizing that he was just as distant to his family as he was to his friends.

“How about I call Vegeta and have him find out where Goku is. Unless Goku is hiding his Ki, Vegeta should find him in no time.”

Bulma rubbed the poor woman’s back, hoping that the location of her wayward husband would help wash away the tears. But from the sounds of it, the true problem was Chichi’s lessening faith in the man she married and Goku’s eternally wandering feet. Was he really so uninterested? Bulma had had no idea.

At a nod of agreement from the other, Bulma moved the conversation on to lighter topics, hoping to brighten up Chichi at least a bit. Her mouth chattered on politely, while her mind spun, trying to reason out just when she had grown so far away from her best friend, a man who she had thought she knew.

That boy in the forest, innocent and pure, had never seemed so far away.

 

 ——-

 

A scowl rested comfortably on Vegeta’s face. It was one of his most-used expressions and fit like a glove. The reason for it being used at this moment specifically, was the fool’s errand that his sort of-consort, sort of-landlord had sent him on. She used him far too much for such trivial matters and it was beginning to grate upon his nerves.

The air was cool against his flaring Ki, and he tried to imagine it soothing him. He didn’t need to get into an argument with Kakarot as soon as he laid eyes on the man. He was a Prince, and as such, he was above such pettiness. If he wanted to argue with Kakarot, he’d do it with no help from the earth woman!

Or that was what he told himself. In truth, he was actually trying to be more amicable to the low-born in general. His many years of hurt pride and childish behavior were laid to rest within his mind. Old habits died hard, however, and without the buffer of anger between he and Kakarot, Vegeta found that he had no idea how to interact with the man.

As he followed the call of Kakarot’s Ki, Vegeta obsessively mulled over how to converse with the Saiyajin. What to say, how to say it, should he keep his arms crossed, or put them on his hips? This would all be incredibly easier if he had his tail. Nonverbal communication between Saiyans was primarily handled with pheromones and tail positioning.

Without a tail to convey his inner emotions, and Kakarot also without one, Vegeta had the distinct impression that he was a mute yelling at a deaf man. It was infuriating! He would never understand how humans could communicate with only their faces and words.

When his boots touched upon the grass, he abruptly threw out all of his half-formed conversational ideas and self-doubts. Time to wing it.

Taking a breath and casting his eyes around, he could tell that Kakarot was in the vicinity but not particularly close. The scent of him was a mix of old and fresh, so he must be frequenting the area. There was no doubt that the man was close by, and likely very aware that Vegeta had come to him, considering the Ki he’d been pouring out on the flight over to Kakarot’s little hideaway.

But Kakarot hadn’t shown himself yet, and considering his ability to teleport at will, Vegeta decided he would simply wait. There was surely a reason why the other hadn’t shown himself yet.

The minutes ticked by, Vegeta simply standing still as stone, enjoying the breeze on his face. Whatever part of this forest Kakarot had claimed, it was certainly peaceful. The constantly shifting scents of the wildlife and plants were pure bliss compared to the stale and dry air of Capsule Corp. The loud and smelly city it resided in was murder on his senses. Maybe Kakarot wasn’t as a much of a fool as he made out to be. He’d found the perfect little nest.

The swish of leaves and the uptick in that unique Saiyajin scent was all the sign that Vegeta needed.

“Hello, Vegeta. What brings you out here?” Kakarot asked, calm as could be. A massive animal of some kind was hung over his shoulder, its head hanging limply to an angle.

“Your woman was at my house, blubbering about how she hasn’t seen you in ages.” Vegeta’s voice came out as harsh as usual, but his expression hadn’t changed from the peaceful one he had worn while taking in the scent of the forest.

“Oh, was she?” Kakarot’s voice was only politely interested. Vegeta couldn’t help but feel intrigued at the obvious lack of true caring.

“Yes. Crying all over Bulma, causing a ruckus in her grief…” Vegeta’s voice trailed off when Kakarot did nothing more than nod.

Goku glanced up to see himself being stared at, apparently only just realizing that he was expected to answer. “Yeah, she does that sometimes. Don’t know why she’d be so upset she ain’t seen me in a few days, though. She ain’t given me a moment’s peace the whole time I been alive again. I’d figure she’d got her fill for a while, but I guess not!” He chuckled a bit.

Vegeta blinked hard at that. Well. Apparently, the woman’s fears of her husband’s disinterest weren’t unfounded.

He said nothing, simply ruminated on Kakarot’s words and watched the man untie the laces of his boots. Instead of simply taking off his shoes, the Saiyajin completely removed the laces from them before removing the shoes themselves. Setting aside the strings for a moment, he removed his wristbands and stuffed them into the boots, then picked the laces back up.

Walking towards the animal, Kakarot roughly tied the hind legs together with the repurposed twine and hefted the beast by the knot. He shuffled for a moment, casting his eyes about before settling on a tree nearer to Vegeta.

He moved himself out of the way, interested to see Kakarot’s plan. The man moved with purpose, clearly comfortable in the routine. Vegeta could practically see the cogs turning behind the other’s eyes.

His eyes snapped to a roughly carved knife shoved into Kakarot’s sash. No sooner than he had noticed it, the man was taking it out and thrusting it into the belly of his catch. One quick swipe later, and Kakarot was already stashing it back into his pants.

The guts of the beast oozed forward for a moment, before being snatched by Kakarot’s hands and quickly yanked out. Vegeta blinked at how unhesitant the other was, before he moved up to stand beside him.

Kakarot glanced over, acknowledging his presence, but he said nothing. He was silent in his task. Grabbing the knife again, he quickly made multiple slits in the pelt. Then the knife was once again stored away, and he was grabbing the pelt with his hands. A quick tug and the pelt was snapped off the entire bottom. One more and it was detached from the everything up to the beast’s neck. The knife came out and the entire head came off.

The refuse was discarded, and what was minutes before a living, breathing animal, was now a skinned and gutted carcass. If there was one thing to be said about of the entire experience, it was that Vegeta had learned how efficient Kakarot truly was.

“You want any of the guts? The heart is good. Kidneys, too.”

Vegeta broke himself out of his thoughts to see the other crouching over the pile of innards laying all over the ground. The man’s arms were caked in blood all the way up to the elbows. He was separating what Vegeta assumed to be the edible organs from the non-edible.

“Here.” One bloody hand waved in Vegeta’s direction, a squishy little thing held in its grasp. “It’s a kidney.”

Vegeta swallowed, unsure of what to say in the situation, or if he should say anything at all. He settled for the latter and simply took the thing from Kakarot. After a moment of hesitation, he did what he with all food set in front of him. Though, he _did_ take pains not to chew it. The texture looked…. Unpleasant.

One would think that Vegeta would be unfazed by the casual meal in front of him, but any beasts or sentients that he had eaten on his various purging missions across the myriad of planets he’d been to, he’d never eaten any of the guts.

Aliens came in all shapes and sizes, and beings without the blessing of powerful Ki had to rely on more mundane means of protecting themselves. Acid sacks, viscous sludge for blood, powerful scent bursts, he had seen it all. It was much less of a hassle to just eat their flesh and skip the insides completely.

Well. The kidney wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t even bad. It simply was. The blood alone was tastier, though.

Kakarot studied him carefully as Vegeta slurped down the organ. He watched Vegeta lick the blood from his gloves, watched as the prince seemed to contemplate the taste.

“Like the blood more?”

Vegeta looked up at the question, staring at Kakarot in silence. Abruptly, the man smiled.

“Me too.” He turned away again, smile still on his face. “Gohan does, too. But Chichi found me givin’ it to him once when he was a baby, and she didn’t let me alone with him for a long time after.” Goku felt the smile on his face turn bitter for a moment, before he carefully smoothed it away.

“I dunno what Goten likes. But I have a feelin’ he’d like it. I’ll prob’ly never know, though. Chichi likes to pretend they’re human, through and through. I been gone all of Goten’s life. At this point, Chichi is all he ever known. He knows the books, and he knows the house. He never been out in the wilds, livin’ only for himself, doin’ what needs to be done. Gohan knows, if only a li’l bit. But Goten…? I worry that she done already beat the Saiyajin outta him, like she eventually did to Gohan.”

He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice and off of his face, this time. It was plain to see. He could feel Vegeta staring at him, his face still and stony. Goku had always envied that face. It was like a mask. Sometimes, he wanted a mask, too.

Vegeta’s eyes dropped from Kakarot’s face, staring at the man’s blood-covered hands. After a moment, he huffed. “You’re a Saiyajin, aren’t you? If you think that harpy of yours is ruining your children, just take them from her.”

“Would you take Trunks?” Kakarot’s eyes stared up at him, harsh and calculating. Vegeta moved his gaze away, unable to stare so fully into the man’s eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You say it like it’s easy, but it ain’t. They’s her kids, too. Prob’ly more than mine. If they want to come to me to learn, I won’t turn ‘em away, but otherwise… I guess they can be humans if they want. I lost the right to change ‘em into anythin’ else years ago.”

The breeze blew by them, throwing the scent of blood and the forest into their faces. It smelled good.

Goku concentrated on his work again, and grabbed the heart from the pile. He weighed it for a moment, stared at it hungrily, before putting it in Vegeta’s gloved hand. The red stained the whiteness in a way that made Goku feel irrationally pleased. He allowed himself to indulge in the sight, if only a little bit.

“That one’s the heart. It’s got a lot of blood in it, so it’s the best.” He turned back and picked out the other kidney and the liver. He slurped them down and then stood up. He licked as much as he could off of his hands and arms, before moving to go back into the woods. The river wasn’t far, and he needed a bath.

“Watch the deer for me, yeah?” Goku didn’t wait for a response. Either Vegeta would watch it and wait, or he would just eat it by himself. _I really hope he don’t eat it all, though…_

Vegeta watched Kakarot disappear into the trees again. He’d learned more about Kakarot in this single conversation than he had in over a decade. Looking down at the heart still in his hand, he wondered why Kakarot had offered to share his catch at all. Saiyans didn’t share food lightly. To share a such a prize, killed with Kakarot’s own hands… to be freely given the best part of the meal…

An unexpected warmth bubbled inside his chest. That fool was far too kind.

_I’d say it was going to get him killed one day, if that hadn’t already happened._

He snorted at the thought and simply accepted his gift for what it was. He fit the entire organ into his mouth and chewed, relishing the metallic burst of flavor. It was the best thing Vegeta had eaten in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Goku gets his nature on, Vegeta has it out with Bulma.  
> Eyes are opened, epiphanies are had.

_BANG—!_ “Kakarot isn’t coming back.”

The sound of the door almost sent Bulma’s wrench straight through the ceiling on a one-way ticket to Namek. Whipping her head around, she got ready to scold Vegeta before she actually processed what he had said.

“What the hell do you mean?! What, he’s just gonna up and drop his family?” The mere thought was absurd. Goku may be forgetful and even a bit stupid sometimes, but he wouldn’t just drop them all on some whim. She knew him better than that, she _had_ to know him better than that!

“I meant what I said, woman.” Vegeta snapped back, harsh as ever. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, something rare for him.

“I believe… that Kakarot feels… neglected.” Vegeta’s voice was unsure, but Bulma’s immediate shriek certainly wasn’t.

“Neglected?! Goku feels neglected?! He’s been gone for seven years and when he comes back, he sticks around for a month and then says he feels _neglected?!_ ”

Bulma’s voice raised higher with each statement, leaving Vegeta’s sensitive ears ringing. It was like being in the room with a bomb that never stopped exploding. And he knew from experience that she was only getting started.

_“Shut up!”_ The roar that tore out of his throat halted her in tracks. He muttered a few choice words in Saiya-go and rubbed his ears, expression betraying the barest hint of pain. It was amazing he hadn’t blown up the entire Capsule Corporation headquarters years ago, considering how often Bulma’s shrill yelling gave him migraines.

“If you would let me explain before you start shouting at full volume—“ Cutting himself off, he took a deep breath of the stale, recycled air and felt an abrupt desire to flee back to Kakarot’s peaceful little hiding place in the forest. Back to the shifting scents, to the soothing rumble of Kakarot’s voice— to the blood on his hands and the taste of a fresh kill in his mouth.

It sounded positively delightful. But it wasn’t meant to be.

“Sit down and do not interrupt me.”

Bulma made as if to argue before he silenced her with a stony glare. After a bit of grumbling, she pulled up a chair and tried to force some calm back into her veins.

“Now listen. Kakarot does not feel neglected in the way you may think. Chichi smothers him _constantly_. She probably never leaves the poor man alone, from what I know of her. But she does not understand him. And frankly, neither do you.”

Bulma felt her temper flare, but Vegeta simply held up a hand, stone-walling her building argument. Her teeth ground with irritation.

“She treats him like a human.”

Just that simple statement cooled her temper with no effort, but only from pure confusion.

“Frankly, you _all_ treat him like a human. You have never treated him as a Saiyajin. None of you have ever tried to understand him as a Saiyajin, tried to understand why he does things or why he thinks things. This grates him,” _and me_ , Vegeta privately added to himself.

“Even when he had no idea what he was, it most likely irritated him without him ever knowing why.”

He paused, allowing Bulma to speak. If he didn’t, she’d most likely just shout over him. The desperation to ask questions was practically wafting off of her. In fact, it actually was in a way. The distinct scent of human aggression was roiling in the room.

“Well, why didn’t he just say something?! There’s no reason to go running off to Kami-knows-where and abandon everyone just because he’s feeling angsty!”

The rudeness of her dismissal set Vegeta’s Ki to boiling. He could feel his stance subtly shifting into something more aggressive, and made no move to stop it.

“Angsty?! You think this is _angst_?! Bulma, he does not even recognize his own children!”

The use of her name and the tone of pure, unadulterated _offense_ in the Prince’s voice sent her reeling.

“Chichi has so utterly humanized his children that he cannot connect with them! He does not understand them, and any attempts he has made to bond with them as a Saiyajin have been denied by that— that wench! Not to mention that she tries to humanize Kakarot as well!”

The power of his own disgust shocked even Vegeta, but now that he was expressing it, he could not deny it. Whether she was aware of it or not, Chichi had taken Kakarot’s children from him, and he was made to endure the constant attempts to also take away what made Kakarot who he was at his core.

A stray thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.

_How long has he been tail-less?_

Anger coursed through him again. Had Chichi forced Kakarot to chop it off? Had she removed it _herself_? The very idea made an old desire reignite in him, to scour the Earth clean. To take a Saiyan’s tail in battle was one thing. At least the wound would be honorable in a twisted way, but if Kakarot was coerced—

His thoughts and his temper were fraying at the seams. No, it wouldn’t do to jump to conclusions. He had no information on when Kakarot had lost his tail and his dislike of Chichi didn’t automatically mean she was the one who had taken it. He would address Kakarot’s lack of tail, _and his own_ , in due time. For now, he had to get back on track before he accidentally blew up Bulma’s lab with his aura alone.

Gathering his thoughts, he pushed his mind back towards the argument. He had make her see— make her understand just how Kakarot and his children had been wronged.

“Gohan sees battle as shameful, he sees it as wrong! Chichi has taken from him his very blood! To be perfectly _fucking_ honest, Kakarot is far more lenient than I would be in his situation.”

“Well, excuse me, but fighting for the sake of fighting is wrong, you warmonger!” Bulma stood up, knocking over her chair. She knew— she just knew that Vegeta was going to bring up fighting. The man had a one-track mind and everything led back to beating people senseless.

“ _Warmonger?!_ You simpering fool, you understand _nothing_ about Saiyajin culture! Do not pretend you do! True Saiyajin battle to prove themselves, to _im_ prove themselves! To push their limits at all times! To battle is to strive for greatness— to be the best you can possibly be! For a true Saiyajin, to be without battle, without the thrill of the chase, without the glory of mastering yourself and mastering your opponent— there is no more final death! No other torment could compare to being without that fire, that— that hunt for the soul!”

At this point, the passion in his words was rattling him. He was rambling but couldn’t stop himself. The image of Kakarot’s wild grin, the heat from his blazing, golden aura, the unshakable confidence in himself and his abilities— all of it was spinning in Vegeta’s mind. Kakarot was a true Saiyajin, down to the very core of his being. He had finally accepted this during the battle with Buu.

The idea that Chichi would somehow steal that from Kakarot, it made him feel ill. It made him feel cold, as if Kakarot’s fire had been snuffed out and had taken Vegeta’s with it. There would be nothing left to strive for, no more motivation to push himself. That fool had no idea how far he had pushed Vegeta’s power forward.

“Gohan and Goten are too human for him to truly connect with, and Chichi has made them that way. They may have once been half-breeds, but Chichi has taken even that! Now, Kakarot has to endure her constant attempts to pacify him as well! It’s no wonder he’s run away! You seem to be under the delusion that fighting is just a hobby, just a thing we can cast aside when asked. We are _Saiyans_. To take away our desire to fight is to take away everything that makes us who we are. Everything is tied to the instinctual need to test ourselves— to test each other and our surroundings! To be constantly demanded to give it up...? Bulma, he will _not_ go back to her. Not anymore. After seven years without her, he knows what freedom is. He won’t give it up again.”

Bulma could do nothing more than stare, in both fascination and horror at the man— the _being_ in front of her. His chest was heaving, huffing deep breaths from the power of his own beliefs. She truly did not understand him, and apparently, she didn’t understand Goku either.

Defeated, she stood in front of Vegeta, wondering how she could have been so utterly wrong about everything she had thought she knew about them.

Fighting had always been a core of both of their lives, but she hadn’t understood the reason why. She had always just assumed it was a man thing, some kind of testosterone trip or something. She hadn’t even considered—

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She had simply assumed that Goku was okay with how she treated him, and how everyone treated him. Maybe that was why he always seemed to disappear. How often did they make fun of him for constantly wanting to spar? If that was Goku’s only way to truly connect with them, why on Earth would he want to stay when they constantly mocked him for it?

When they had learned that Goku was an alien, a member of a mostly-extinct species who lived and breathed death and destruction, she should have gone over all of her past interactions with him. She should have reassessed his entire personality, his strange quirks that she had always just dismissed as ‘Goku being Goku’, as if that was all the explanation that was required. She felt like a fool, and maybe like she had failed him a little bit.

_‘You have never treated him like a Saiyajin. You have never tried to understand him.’ Have I just taken him for granted this entire time and not realized it?_

A sigh escaped her before she could stop it. She was suddenly very tired.

“What can we do?”

The resigned tone of her voice finally let Vegeta relax. Now, maybe he could actually be productive instead of trapped in a tiny room with Bulma and trying to explain what should have been obvious to her, considering how many years she had known Kakarot.

“ _Do?_ There is nothing to be done, for now. My muscles itch, and your squawking has given me a headache.” The dirty look Bulma threw him bounced off with no trouble.

“So, what… We just leave Goku to stew in the woods?”

“For now. Why don’t you use that big brain of yours and think up a solution that doesn’t entail me dragging him back here to suffer some more. As I understand it, he is quite content where he is.”

With that, he stalked away, callously ignoring the guilt that was starting to shine on Bulma’s face. In his opinion, it was deserved. He was still too angry about Kakarot’s situation, and what the man had said in the quietness of the forest. The bitterness he had seen on Kakarot’s face did not suit him.

_He was clearly unhappy, and yet…_

He looked down at his glove, a slight pinkness stained into the palm. Clenching his fist, he vowed to help Kakarot, that low-born fool. Too many years had been spent hating him, blaming him for every slight inconvenience Vegeta had. They were all that was left, and he owed Kakarot more than the man would ever know.

His eyes had been opened during the battle with Buu. Kakarot was the best. Had Vegeta-sei still existed, the man would have been right up there beside Vegeta, a cut above the rest, an elite above elites. But their world was gone. For now, this little mud-ball would have to do.

They were the only ones left. A prince and a commoner.

Well… Time to act like one. He would help his people— his subjects. Even if there was only the one left.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk about this chapter, man. Didnt come out the way i wanted it to, but you can only polish a turd so much. Might as well post it.
> 
> In my opinion, Bulma is the biggest idiot in the Z-fighters. She’s a genius of unparalleled proportion, but she didn’t question Goku’s alien origins, didn’t question his mind or personality. Learning that your best friend for 10 years is an alien should have given her some perspective, but she continued on as if nothing had changed. That always irriated me. I would figure that would be a game-changer in how you interact with someone, but NOPE.
> 
> This chapter is pretty hit or miss for me, because I’m not very confident in how I write Vegeta. He is at times bursting at the seams with fiery passion, yet at others, colder than a corpse. He has a perfect mask, but crack it in the slightest and it crumbles to pieces. He’s a character of extremes. 
> 
> Ironically, I find Goku to be much more subtle in his emotions. 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think of this chapter. Ive stared at it for so long that i feel like i cant even see it anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku does a think

Goku had come back from his dip in the river and found himself alone again. Vegeta had blasted off almost as soon as Goku was out of earshot, but Goku had felt the rise and fall of the prince’s Ki as if it was being shouted at him from inches away.

A hot flash of anger made him grit his teeth for a moment, twisting his normally kind face into a fang-bearing snarl.

Of _course_ Vegeta would leave after he’d dumped his problems out for all the world to see. The other Saiyajin was always disgusted at the slightest _hint_ of vulnerability and Goku had gone and shoved his weakness directly in the man’s face!

He stomped angrily back to the little clearing where he’d left his meal. Vegeta had better have just eaten the damn thing and not left it for the wolves.

Swiping the vines and branches out of the way, Goku cast his eyes across the clearing. The carcass was left completely untouched. The sight of it send a pang of rejection spearing through his chest. He didn’t even try to hold back the bestial roar of anger that ripped out of his throat. The echo of it bounced through the mountains, sending the nearby birds into a panic.

Something about that full meal, something he’d killed and cleaned, given the best parts of to Vegeta, and rest was left abandoned as soon as his back was turned— something about it made him want to tear the dirt from the ground and throw trees around like twigs.

Goku would’ve preferred Vegeta just eat it all and not leave him a single bite, rather than abandoning the food to whatever dumb animal who happened to wander by! He wanted to share it, wanted to learn more about the Prince, wanted to...

Vegeta’s face flashed across his mind. Stony and silent, the picture of a warrior. Goku pouring out his weakness while the cold prince just looked on in silence.

_I can’t believe I was expecting Vegeta to stay! No wonder everyone calls me stupid all the time! Vegeta has always hated me, why would he suddenly change now?! Especially after everything I said. Me giving him the best parts changes nothing. Damn it, why do I even care?!_

Offended, rejected, and irritated in ways he himself didn’t entirely understand, Goku yanked the deer out of the tree and tore into it as if it was the source of his anger. Forget cooking it, he just wanted to choke the thing down and get started on his next task, which would be to make his way to Grandpa Gohan’s old shack.

The tiny house wouldn’t be big enough anymore, so he would have to add onto it somehow. As the bones of his meal crunched under his teeth, Goku’s mind turned over the problem of building onto the rotten little house.

Wood was no issue, considering where he was. The _true_ problem was in how he was supposed to fit it all together. He had no nails, and didn’t know how to make them. Maybe he could make something sticky… Sap? No, it would just wash away with the next rain.

Over and over, his mind spun around the problem. It would certainly be a lot easier to just ask Bulma for a Capsule House, but that would defeat the purpose of staying out in the woods in the first place. Vegeta had said that Chichi had been making a fuss at Capsule Corp, and ‘crying all over Bulma’, which meant that she was aware of him running away, which meant that she had probably tried to comfort Chichi, which meant that she had most likely made some kind of promise to Chichi that she’d bring him back.

_Sorry, Bulma. Not gonna happen._

Goku imagined the flustered expressions that must be making themselves at home on both Chichi and Bulma’s faces. They were so rare for the headstrong women. What a prize it would be to see them! _Ah, well._

The breeze blew across his face, carrying the left-over scent of meat, and the ever-present smell of the woodland surrounding him. The scents calmed him, washing away the frustration of Vegeta’s sudden exit, the problem of the too-small house hidden away in heart of the forest… It was just him.

Him and the Earth.

Just like it should be.

No confusing humans, no screams of anger and disappointment lashing against his ears, no tiny children with stubby little tails grasping onto his too-big hands.

There wasn’t the slick feeling of an enemy’s Ki brushing against his mind. There was no flash of golden fury in his veins.

Everything was at peace.

Goku and the Earth.

Back to the beginning.

He should’ve felt happy at such a prospect. But he knew too much— had seen too much. He had seen his son cry out in pain, had seen his Prince weep in despair as he died, had watched as his brother bled out and laughed as death took him.

He had died, gone to Heaven and come back. He had met the Gods, even done them favors.

There was no going back to the beginning. From here, he could only move forward.

Standing up, Goku abruptly remembered Granpa Gohan, old and white. Whenever the man stood up after sitting for a long time, his joints would creak and strain. Goku stood up, smooth and young. He remembered the smell of his Granpa, both living and dead. He remembered the sight of his corpse, crushed and mangled inside of a crater.

Blood on his feet.

Goku shook off the memory. All of a sudden, he didn’t want to go back to that tiny shack. _Ah, well. I’ll find somewhere else._ He inhaled the forest, allowed the calm to come back. The sun was starting to set, turning the sky red. Soon, the moon would be out and he’d be hungry again. One deer wasn’t enough.

_What should I eat next?_

From then, his thoughts were focused. He had things to do, places to go, animals to kill, houses to build. Time to move forward.

Goku’s stride was easy and smooth as he disappeared into the trees. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, we have a short interlude with goku, after he leaves for his bath. Sorry, no sexy bathing scene. Maybe next time.
> 
> This chapter ALSO didnt come out as i wanted it. I feel as if this is the start of a pattern... hopefully goku’s thoughts dont jump around too drastically. Earlier, i said that goku was easier for me to write because he is much more subtle. What a fool i was! Mood whiplash irritates me in fanfics, so im trying my best to make things flow smoothly, but goku got in my way this time. Also, sorry it took so long for this chapter. And its so short! Im gonna have to step it up for the next chapter!
> 
> Also, thank you for all your comments! I may not reply to them, but i am carefully reading each one! I want to give you guys a good story, so im making sure to pay attention to your reactions. So guys, did i nail it, or did i fall flat on my face? Let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gohan gets involved and gets enlightened

Goku couldn’t help but the genuine smile that lit his face. Gohan’s unmistakable Ki was searing straight towards him, a bright beacon flashing in the sky. Night had fallen, covering the forest in a thick blanket of darkness, but Gohan’s power was a moon inside Goku’s mind— silver and smooth. Ever since his Ki had been unlocked by Elder Kai, that wild and blistering energy that shone like gold had been replaced. No, maybe not replaced… Perhaps it was simply controlled. Pacified. _Tamed_.

Goku missed that fiery strength Gohan had as a child, but this new calmness seemed to ease his son’s mind. Goku did not quite understand it, but he accepted it.

Gohan alighted in the clearing in front of Goku, his feet touching down with the softness of feathers. Gentle, so gentle.

Goku could see his son perfectly from his perch in the treetops. The boy had flown right by him, none the wiser. Anticipation filled his veins. Would Gohan chase him? Maybe they could play for a bit— bond under the black of night, as one Saiyajin to another. He hadn’t had many opportunities to play little games like this when Gohan was a baby, but the ones they _did_ have were always fun.

Goku could perfectly remember the pitter-patter of Gohan’s little feet chasing him in the dark, flashes of that stubby tail lashing behind him excitedly, his wild chitters of triumph when Goku would slow down enough to be caught.

Maybe… _Maybe…_

“Dad! I know you’re in here!” Gohan called loudly. Birds scattered from the treetops, angrily cawing. Goku sighed to himself, and buried the familiar disappointment. Gohan didn’t seem to remember those times. He had tried to play with him a few times since his resurrection, flashing across his vision, running passed the boy, even poking him and then skittering away.

But it didn’t work. Gohan didn’t chase anymore. He just looked on, confusedly. His eyes didn’t follow Goku’s movements. Gohan would simply watch him in the way Chichi did, with fleeting touches of curiosity in-between long stretches of disinterest.

“Dad! Come out already!”

Goku dropped down in front of his son, noting the slight startle the boy made at the weighty thump. “If you’d used more than your eyes, you’d have found me. Ya scared off all the game, Gohan.” Goku chided softly.

Gohan shook off the reproach with ease, unknowingly irritating his father. Everyone seemed to do that. They heard what he was saying but they didn’t _listen_. Gohan should have been able to smell him, to catch the trail. But no. Goku suppressed his Ki and his son was suddenly blind, deaf, and dumb! Such a huge mistake could cost him his life in a battle. The Androids should have been enough to teach Gohan that some opponents couldn’t be traced by their Ki. He should be using all of his senses, not relying on sight and Ki-trail.

Goku choked down his annoyance. _Whatever. He doesn’t want to play, so what? He never wants to play. I know this._

He didn’t understand it, but he accepted it. It was all he could do.

“Mom made your favorites tonight. Why don’t you come home? We all miss you.”

It was true, for Goten especially. He had been so excited to meet his father, back at the World Tournament. After Buu, he finally had the opportunity to really get to know the man. But Goku had only stuck around for a little while, before taking off again. Goten was positively depressed.

Gohan watched as a strange smile spread across his father’s face. It was one he had never seen before. It didn’t reach his eyes.

“Goten knows where I’m at if he wants to see me, and so do you. Chichi can ride the Nimbus if she’s that desperate to yell at me. I couldn’t hide from y’all anywhere on the planet, if ya put your mind to it.”

Gohan huffed, but held back from saying what he was thinking. His father had _just_ hidden from him! His Ki had faded into the background the moment he had gotten close!

Gohan was completely unaware of how wrong he was.

“Well, Mom won’t let him leave the house after dark.” Gohan shifted on his feet, watching his father. He stopped fidgeting completely as the smile melted off of Goku’s face.

“What’s gonna hurt him at night that cain’t hurt him durin’ the day? There ain’t nothin’ on this planet that could put a dent in him anyways.”

Gohan had no answer for that. He knew fully well how irrationally protective his mother was. Nothing less than diamond-grit sandpaper could skin his little brother’s knee, and there wasn’t much of that in the forests around Mt. Paozu. Chichi kept a tight leash on Goten, regardless.

Goku knew this also. When Gohan had turned 4, there were no more chases. But Goku had _never_ had a chase with Goten, and it seemed that he never would. The thought filled him with anger, the same bitter anger that had led to him leaving them all in the first place.

Gohan watched on, starting to fidget again. The look on his father’s face made him nervous. It reminded him of thunder in the distance, a roiling danger that was deceptive. It always looked much farther away than it actually was.

“Well. Even if Chichi locks him up at night, he can still come see me durin’ the day.” With that, Goku turned away and moved towards the edge of the clearing. He was getting hungry and talking about Chichi and her stupid rules was making him mad.

He took a deep inhale, but only caught old scents. Gohan had scared off all of the big game. _Hmmm… Maybe fish? Been a while since I had that._

“Wait, Dad— Come back! Where are you going?” Gohan moved started towards his father, his nervousness jumping even higher. The image of that broad back, walking away from him… It filled him with dread. He felt as if his father would disappear into the trees like a ghost, never to be seen again.

“Stop yellin’, Gohan. You’ll scare away my dinner.” Goku’s voice was soft but steely. Gohan swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.

“Pease come home, Dad.”

The pleading note in his son’s voice rankled Goku. He hated that tone. Chichi used it all the time to try and get what she wanted if he resisted her yelling. It was so soft, so _weak_. It didn’t fit her and it fit Gohan even less.

Chichi used that voice as a lie, but Gohan’s use of it made no sense. He wouldn’t use that voice as a lie, so why _did_ he use it? He was strong, one of the strongest. So why did the boy sound so vulnerable— like Goku could take his heart in his hands and mash it to paste with nothing but a thought. It was annoying!

But mostly, it just made him angry at Chichi more. If Gohan wanted him home so bad, he should come over and _force_ him back. He should fight for what he wanted! If Chichi truly wanted him home, she should do the same! She would lose to him, obviously, but he would see the honor in it. He would respect her for it, would hear her out at the very least. But no, she had sent Gohan out to do her dirty work, knowing that he wouldn’t fight his father. He would try and convince him with words and logic. She used his son’s softness as a weapon against him.

Well, it had backfired. He was more set than ever to leave that house behind, leave _her_ behind. He wouldn’t live in that house and watch as she beat their souls into shape. She burned out their instincts, muddied them with books and logic, good jobs and easy money, university and diplomas.

He could see the dullness in Gohan’s eyes, and it was growing in Goten’s. He had tried to reconnect with Gohan and it didn’t work. It hurt him, stung his pride and seared his heart. Goten would be no different.

He didn’t want to watch it happen.

“Gohan… I am not coming home.”

He said it so simply, so firmly. Like it was a fact of life. The sky is blue. The grass is green. Goku wasn’t coming home.

“But why?”

Gohan’s voice was even softer, even more vulnerable. Goku could feel the pulse of his son’s heart on his fingertips. It reminded him of the deer he’d eaten earlier, the heart he had given to Vegeta. It had looked so strong when it was alive, so confident that it was the master of its domain.

It looked like Gohan. A deception of strength. The appearance of a Saiyajin, but a human on the inside. That deer had fallen so easily, been eaten so greedily. It had been _delicious_.

A sigh left him. He couldn’t hold it in. _‘But why?’_

“Gohan… I don’t understand ya. I thought that was fine for a while. I couldn’t understand ya, but I could accept ya. I think I was lyin’ to myself. I can’t accept it.”

Gohan listened, rapt. He could feel his heart sinking into his feet. What had he done wrong?

“Gohan, I won’t come back because I can’t come back. I’m too angry, too disappointed.” Goku felt the words tumbling out. He felt himself squeeze his son’s heart.

“What did I do wrong? Tell me and I’ll change! I’ll fix it!” Gohan felt the terror of being 12 years old, facing down a monster that had won in every way. He could see his father’s back as he prepared to sacrifice his life to fix Gohan’s mistake. Had he made another mistake? Had it driven his father away again?

“Gohan, it ain’t your fault. It’s Chichi’s.”

That statement sent his brain slamming to a halt. _Mom’s…?_

“It’s Chichi’s and it’s Bulma’s and Krillin’s and Yamcha’s and Roshi’s and every one else I know. I don’t understand ‘em. They don’t understand me. I tried so hard to connect with ‘em, with you and Goten. I tried so hard… But it didn’t work. They’re too different, too _human._ I’m so angry and tired. I’m tired of bein’ looked at like I’m stupid! I’m tired of bein’ changed! I am a _Saiyajin_ , damn it! I won’t stop fightin’ and I won’t stop bein’ dirty and gross and poor and stupid! I _won’t!_ ”

Goku’s voice was getting louder and louder, echoing around the both of them. He could feel his Ki start to roar, his blood start to pump. He wanted to destroy something. He wanted to do _anything_ but feel this weakness— to show it to his son. Why couldn’t they just chase?

The years of tiny insults, petty little statements that should have meant nothing, they had piled so high inside his soul. He was through. He would take no more of them. He was a Saiyajin and he was damn tired of being treated like that was a bad thing, of feeling like an outsider, of being called ‘silly Goku’ and ‘stupid Goku’ and ‘monkey boy’.

He wasn’t going home and they could all just get over it.

Goku forced a deep breathe into his lungs, let the scent of the trees wash over him. Peace. Calm. Strength. No weakness. Solid trees and big game. The black night and the white moon.

The anger fizzled out and his Ki rested a bit.

“I’m not goin’ home. You can come to _me_ if ya want. But that house on Mt. Paozu… Never again. See ya later, Gohan.”

With that, Goku shot off into the forest. He was going to go the biggest lake he could find and eat every single fish in it, bones and all.

Gohan reached out a hand, as if to stop him, but his father was gone with a rustle of the leaves. Coming had been a mistake. He had somehow angered his father so thoroughly that he had sworn off practically everyone he knew. What the hell had happened?

_‘I won’t stop bein’ dirty and gross and poor and stupid! I won’t!’_

Where had that come from? Who had called him all those things?

Gohan was desperately confused, saddened, rejected, confused, hurt, _confused_ — Mostly, he was just confused. He had thought that his father was rejecting him specifically, but it seemed like Goku was rejecting everyone he had ever known.

_‘I tried so hard to connect with ‘em, with you and Goten—‘_

Had he? Gohan hadn’t even noticed. That realization was like a stone in his stomach _. I didn’t notice… No one noticed!_

He sat down, his head in his hands. A new realization came to him.

We have all fucked up so bad.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp.
> 
> Oh! Someone asked if i have a beta. Nope! This is all me! Any typoes you catch are ones that slipped by me when i proofread. I reread these chapters about 3 or 4 times to try and catch everything but stuff still slips by me. Whoops.
> 
> Next chapter is vegeta time. So buckle up, my friends


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goku eats a lot and sleep a lot. Vegeta sleeps too, but he does it naked. Did you know that? Thats a thing he does.

Gohan’s return home had been very outwardly uneventful. Inwardly, on the other hand, he was in turmoil. He didn’t want to have to see his mother’s face when he repeated his father’s words back to her. He didn’t want to have to see the disappointment from her, the betrayal from Goten. It was all so difficult.

Buu’s defeat should have solved their problems, should’ve brought them a well-earned peace. All it had brought was an entirely different set of problems. This was a battle he couldn’t just punch away. And smart as he was, he had no idea how to win it. His father seemed so far away now…

Gohan could fly around the entire planet in less than a second if he was going at top speed, but his father was barely a hundred miles away and he could not reach him. Goku had been killed, been laid waste to by a disease— he had disappeared into the void of space, left behind on a dying planet— he had smiled at Gohan as he winked out of existence, willingly sacrificing himself to save the Earth...

All these things had happened before Gohan’s very eyes. He had been away from Gohan for so much of his life, so many years going by with his father either missing or dead. But always, even with his father gone to Otherworld, he had felt connected to the man. Goku had been an unshakable pillar of who Gohan was. He had been a radiant, shining example of strength and stability.

His father was his idol— golden and indestructible. Indomitable. Unyielding.

But now… For the first time in his life, there was a distance that went beyond the physical. Even in death, or lost to space, or bleeding on the ground, Gohan had felt connected to his father. He felt that he understood the man, and that he was understood in turn. Now, he knew he had been wrong.

So utterly wrong.

He had never understood. He had been staring into the darkness, thinking he could see everything inside it. Now that a light had been shone into that void, he saw how truly vast and unknown it had been. He had seen _nothing_.

For the first time in his life, Gohan knew that his father was right next him, but a million lightyears away. Gohan could reach out and touch the man, but he could not reach his father’s soul.

There was a distance. A distance of the heart.

 

———

 

  
The night came and went. Goku hunted for his food, arms slathered in the blood of his meals, eyes dark as the night sky and just as neutral.

Gohan slept fitfully, his brother cradled against him, as if he could shelter him from sadness even as they rested.

Chichi didn’t sleep at all, feeling far too angry and betrayed by her husband’s staunch refusal to come home. She scrubbed the dishes, dusted every single item in their little house, washed the windows, folded the laundry. She did everything she could to try and burn away that anger.

It worked. At the end, she was making a massive breakfast for her two children. Her eyes tiredly watched over the food as it steamed and sizzled and boiled and baked. She had no more anger, only an intense disappointment.

The night came and went. The moon moved across the sky.

The sun began to rise, and Goku bedded down in a small field of tall grass. Trees surrounded him on all sides, and the soft lighting that filtered through their leaves lulled him into a contented nap. He fell asleep as everyone started to wake. He was warm and full, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

 

————

 

  
Vegeta awoke a few hours later. An instinctual scan of his surroundings informed him that he was in his room at Capsule Corp, and Bulma’s Ki was moving towards him. This close, he could easily tell it was her. Had he been miles away, however, she would have been indistinguishable from from any other human. A tiny light in a sea of brightness.

Vegeta had never told her this and never would. He knew she would be horribly offended by the insinuation that she was anything resembling ordinary. No amount of explaining would be able to soothe her stuck pride, and he would have to endure her endless shouting pounding against his eardrums.

He rolled over, enjoying the feeling of soft sheets moving across his form. As he waited for Bulma to amble her way over to his door, his brain pondered their failed relationship.

Those years ago… Her fire had been what attracted him to her. She was so spunky, despite her weakness. That fire had amused him, even delighted him on occasion, but the passing of time had dulled its allure. What he thought was a fire had been nothing but embers. There was nothing behind them but ash. If he moved to truly test her, those embers would sputter and die in an instant. The fight he loved would be replaced with a cloying fear that rose from her body to stifle his senses.

Back then, he had been confused by it. When she yelled and spit at him anger, she was surely testing him, _challenging_ him. So why, when push came to shove and he got in her face and yelled back— why did she back down so easily? It made no sense to him. She would challenge him, and then move away, ball up into fear or anxiety.

Did she not want him to rise to her challenges? Then why provoke him in the first place? Why did she fear his wrath, his reprisal, when she purposefully invoked that very thing? It was like she was placing his hands at her throat and forcing them to squeeze, while she wept for him to spare her. It was confusing and nonsensical.

Before long, he had learned that it was simply the way humans are. They were certainly strange creatures. One second, they were begging to fight and the next, they were scraping across the ground to hide.

A Saiyajin would simply challenge you, and then either win or lose. Then they would leave the fight, with one bloody and beaten, and the other tall and proud. There was not a time when a challenge to your strength was simply retracted. You didn’t pick a fight and then back away. You _couldn’t_. It just didn’t work in that way. If you actually tried that on Vegetasei, you wouldn’t leave the fight bloodied, you’d leave the fight _dead_.

If you picked a fight with a Saiyajin, you were saying that your power equaled theirs. In that moment, you were showing your strength, declaring loudly, ‘Look! I can handle you! I won’t die so easily, so give me your best shot!’ It was a mutual agreement to bludgeon each other until one of you was the winner.

If you didn’t have the power to back it up, you simply didn’t pick fights. But humans _only_ did that. They constantly challenged each other in tiny ways, but never actually fought. It was maddening.

_Nonsensical. Truly nonsensical._

Vegeta’s ponderings dissolved as his door opened. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, watching her halt in the open doorway. She watched him back.

She simply stood there and stared, taking in the picture he made. He reminded her of a panther, sleek and long and so very above her petty problems. She could make out the scars that cut across his shoulders and back. They always intrigued her. They weren’t like human scars, lumpy and raised and rough. All of his scars were even and smooth, like someone had simply painted them on. He healed in a way that seemed vastly more efficient than she did. It was one of the many small signs that he was from a different world, one that was focused only on bloodshed and violence. In that sort of world, healing efficiently would be key to their survival.

His room was like a cave, and the only reason she could see those lines across his body was because of the light she was letting in from the hallway. The room had no windows, seeing as it was situated on the interior of the building, and he never turned the light on.

In truth, she sometimes wondered if he could see in there at all. She didn’t actually know if there was some other light-source he was using while the door was shut, or if he just didn’t care about seeing anything. Did he only sleep in there? Or did he do other things that just didn't require his sight? She hadn't the faintest clue how their Ki-sense worked, so maybe he "saw" what he was doing with that. It was a question she had no answer to, which was entirely her own fault.

For years he had lived in Capsule Corp, but she had never been in this room with him with the door shut. Anytime they were in a room together, they were somewhere else in the building. In her own private bedroom, or a lab, or the GR, or the kitchen, or anywhere at all. She had never been in his little hidey-hole.

A fit of curiosity overtook her, and she wondered briefly if it was because of their conversation the other day, or if the phone-call she had just had with Gohan was bringing it on. Before she could back out, she jumped forward and shut the door.

Darkness was all she could see. Blobs formed in her vision, illusions brought on by the sudden lack of visual input. She could hear the creak of the bed, where Vegeta must be moving around. It was so incredibly loud, a side-effect of her brain suddenly devoting more strength to a sense that was more useful.

Then, there was no sound.

Vegeta was somewhere in the room with her, but she couldn’t hear him and she couldn’t see him. Her nose wasn’t sensitive enough to pick up anything besides the smell of him that was baked into the room from the years of him living in it. As far as her senses were concerned, he no longer existed. He was a ghost.

Abruptly, she remembered when he had first appeared on their world. He was cold and cruel, viciously slaughtering her friends one by one. An entire city had gone up in smoke the moment he set foot in it. He was a plague upon their world, a death that had come screaming out of the sky to obliterate them all.

Hot breath fanned across her face, and gravity was the only thing that prevented her from shooting through the ceiling head-first. A strangled noise of fright jumped out, and then she could hear Vegeta chuckling softly.

“May I ask what you want?” He hadn’t moved back, amused by her jitters. The scent of fear had burst out of her body so fast, she might as well have shot him in the face with it. It left a tingle in his brain, an itch that told him that she was injured, she was weak, she was ripe for the taking. She was _prey_.

No fire, only ash. How disappointing.

If it had been Kakarot, he would have known where Vegeta was. His eyes would have tracked him across the room, his nose would have been pointed to him at all times. If Vegeta somehow managed to startle the other man anyway, he was sure that Kakarot would have planted a fist in his face just out of reflex.

Vegeta frowned at his wandering thoughts. Thinking about the man right when he woke up, and when the bearer of his child was right in front of him? He must be getting soft.

Bulma swallowed, the sound of it drawing his eyes back to her. When she next spoke, her voice was soft, softer than he had ever heard it. He wondered why that was exactly. He was aware that humans were diurnal creatures, made only for sunlight. Their eyes were useless in true darkness, and their other senses were not strong enough to make up for the lack of visual input. Perhaps the quietness was some sort of instinct? Maybe they knew that if something was alerted to them in the dark, they could not hope to escape. It was impossible to know for sure.

“Gohan called me. Apparently, Chichi sent him to collect Goku last night.”

Vegeta’s mind honed in on the distant sphere of Kakarot’s Ki. It was a low hum in his mind, but not tense. Kakarot’s Ki in a tense, yet suppressed state was like a swirling vortex. It was a whirlpool of perfectly controlled violence. It harmed nothing unless he allowed it. It clung tight to his form, ready to explode into a devastating aura of destruction at but a thought. But relaxed, contented, it was the complete opposite. It hung thick in the air around him, due to the very nature of how powerful the man truly was. It was gentle, moving slowly across the senses like the finest silk.

“I see he didn’t budge. Good for him.”

He could see Bulma choke for a moment. Her eyes were dilated and unfocused, pupils so large that they almost looked Saiyajin.

“Good for him?”

“Yes, good for him. That sniveling little fool has always annoyed me.” Vegeta had pictured wrenching the human’s head off _many_ times. Kakarot deserved a better mate, or at least one that didn’t give everyone in a lightyear’s radius a pounding headache. Her screeching was insufferable, far beyond even Bulma's.

“Maybe now that he has left her, we can get some peace and quiet.”

Bulma huffed in annoyance. “Even if I was sure he actually _is_ leaving her for good, it doesn’t work like that. There’s forms to sign, papers to mail! He can’t just run off and say they aren’t married anymore!”

Vegeta’s eyes zeroed in on her, and though she was blind, she felt the distinct sensation of being examined. “ _Explain_.”

Bulma huffed again, growing more annoyed by the second. “When people on Earth are married, it’s a legally binding agreement. Unless you go through the legal process of _breaking_ that agreement, they’re still husband and wife. Forever. It doesn’t matter how far he runs away, unless he actually fills out the paperwork to say they’re no longer together, he will always be her husband.”

Vegeta’s eyes cut across the room, staring at the wall. Far in the distance, unseen, was Kakarot’s Ki. It was starting to rumble, like he was waking up.

“Does Kakarot know that?” The question was abrupt, and sent Bulma’s mind spinning.

“Well… I don’t know. He didn’t _really_ know what marriage was, when he and Chichi hooked up. And I don’t take her as someone who would think to explain the finer legalities… so… probably not.”

 _Didn’t know what it was? God damn it all, I hate this wretched planet!_ Vegeta had wanted to strangle that woman quite a few times in his life, and he was feeling that urge rise once again.

“So let me get this straight— Kakarot was coerced into a legally binding agreement with no foreknowledge, and most likely has no idea how to break this agreement?”

“Well— I mean—“ Bulma stuttered, suddenly sheepish.

“Do any of you actually care about him?! _At all?!_ It has been what, 15 years? 15 years of him being married to this woman and no one bothered to tell him what that actually means?!”

Vegeta gave an explosive sigh. He stalked away from Bulma, and into his closet. Yanking down a couple packs of clothing, he tore open the plastic wrap that sealed them. In a few short seconds, he was clothed in one of the many identical suits that Bulma produced for him.

After he was clothed, he stomped his way over to the door and tore it open. Bulma flinched at the sudden light, and in the space it took for her eyes to adjust, Vegeta was already miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man i dont fucking know. I rewrote this chapter like 3 times. Im still unhappy with it, but i didnt want to stall any longer. Its short and its got a few breaks it doesnt really need but i was frustrated. Next chapter, goku and vegeta finally meet up again, i mean damn, its certainly taking a while to get there.
> 
> Merry christmas, happy holidays, and a happy new years. I got a nice new shoulder bag to replace my shitty old purse. Its all organized and i can take my ipad around and write anywhere! My car broke down on christmas day, so thats a thing thats happening. Lots of stuff happening man, lots of stuff. 
> 
> Thanks for yalls support! I love reading all your comments! I made a new tumblr for my dbz art and fic, so feel free to follow me if you so desire. I’ll be posting updates, plus any fanart i make.  
> The url is gokusbigass.tumblr.com
> 
>  
> 
> Cause like come on. Guy’s got a big ass. See you in the next chapter, my dudes
> 
> EDIT: I forgot the italics, FOOL that i am!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku kills more animals, Vegeta contemplates his options. Progress is made, even if it’s only a single step.

As he flew towards Kakarot’s massive sphere of Ki that was currently engulfing the forest, his mood had dropped even further. He still was unsure of himself around the other man. Bulma and the others had wronged the man, yes, but so had Vegeta. Vegeta had called him just as many names and treated him like nothing more than trash for many years.

They all needed to figure out what they were going to do for the man and that included Vegeta. So the question remained— _how am I going to make it up to Kakarot?_

Maybe _he_ could hunt for something? That would be good. Then _Kakarot_ could eat the best pieces! Or maybe he could find something that smelled good, and give it to Kakarot. But what smelled good on this planet? Damn it all, he didn’t know anything!

The Saiyajin way to ask forgiveness would be to present an offering of delicacies, and to offer one’s hands and tail. He didn’t know what a delicacy would be to Kakarot, since he had nothing from Vegetasei to present, and he didn’t know what the Earthlings considered them to be. Not to mention the complete lack of his 5th limb.

_Perhaps… Just my hands?_

But would the man even understand what he was trying to do? He had no knowledge of their shared traditional culture. He would _maybe_ be able to infer what an offered tail meant, considering how sensitive that particular appendage was. But the hands? To offer your hands was to offer yourself as a warrior, to give them up was to give up your ability to fight. The offer a tail was to give up your identity as a Saiyajin.

If an enemy chopped off your hands, they took your life. To live without the ability to battle was no life at all. If an enemy chopped off your tail, they took your soul. They took what made you a Saiyajin. They took the sky and the moon and the stars.

To offer all three— to hold them out to someone you had wronged— there was no greater show of remorse for a Saiyajin.

But would Kakarot know that? Would he be able to infer so much? There was no way to tell.

Vegeta’s eyes cast about, searching for Kakarot on the ground. He was above the center of Kakarot’s influence, but he could not see him between the trees.

He carefully lowered himself between the leaves, smelling something interesting below. Some kind of animal was down there, and if Kakarot was hunting, it certainly wouldn’t leave a good impression if he scared away the man’s prey.

He silently perched onto a branch. From his new vantage point, he could _just_ make out the shape of Kakarot’s body hidden in the bushes, specks of orange peeking through the leaves. A large beast was in front of the man, almost a perfect leap away.

It was snuffling around the ground, grunting as it meandered. Whatever it was, it was certainly fat. Vegeta’s eyes honed in on it, as he scented the air. He was almost tempted to take it himself. But no, this was Kakarot’s kill.

Not even a moment later, Kakarot shot out of the bushes like his ass was on fire, clearing the space between him and the soon-to-be-dead animal in a single bound. The creature didn’t even have time to cry out before he was on it.

Kakarot reached out with his hands, grabbed hold of the scruff of the thing’s neck, and swung his body like a pendulum around and under it’s head. Clearing the other side, he gave a light tug as he reached the exact opposite of where he had started his swing. A crack rang out as the beast’s neck broke, Kakarot’s hands releasing it the moment the sound came.

The sudden release sent him shooting up a couple feet into the air, where he righted himself with ease. He fell back over the beast, hands on its head and feet straddling either side of the abruptly made corpse.

The entire thing had taken not more than 4 seconds.

Vegeta was struggling to keep hold of his jaw. He’d never seen such an elegant kill in his life. Just watching it had sent his heart racing. _Damn it all, Kakarot! You never cease to amaze!_

The man himself stood back up, then looked towards Vegeta’s hiding place. Taking that as his queue, Vegeta dropped down, a massive grin stretching across his face.

“Kakarot, that was brilliant! Do you always kill like that?” His excitement was getting the better of him, but he couldn’t force himself to tone it down. The scene of it was playing in his mind. The way Kakarot had used his own weight as leverage, how he had released at just the right moment so as to crack the beast’s neck and not yank off it’s entire head by accident. Vegeta was already filing the move away for later. He would have to try it out at some point. _Considering his larger size, maybe I’ll need to swing my legs harder…? Not tuck so much to the ground..._

Goku’s eyes widened, before he felt an abrupt heat come over him. Vegeta had never actually complimented him before. Maybe he was wrong in thinking that the man still hated him?

“Uh, I guess? It depends on the animal, really.” He blinked slowly, trying to accept this sudden shift in their dynamic. It was a welcome change. He loved fighting with Vegeta, throwing himself against the other man like he was a boulder and Goku was the ocean. The feeling of breaking his body against the man’s fists was incomparable. But compliments were so rare, even from his human friends. To receive one from Vegeta? It was priceless.

Vegeta nodded, before shifting his stance. He shook his head a bit, trying to calm himself. He tamped down on the smile that was gracing his face, studiously schooling his expression back into something neutral. _What did I come here for again?_ The excitement of watching Kakarot in the midst of a hunt had scrambled his brains.

A moment passed in silence, Vegeta calming himself and Goku considering the warmth that the sudden praise had given him. The breeze passed through, and it brought the scent of the forest and fresh kill. Vegeta inhaled it greedily, centering himself with the smell.

“Well… Where have you been staying, Kakarot?”

The rumble of Vegeta’s voice, with no anger or disgust lacing it— it sounded strangely soft to Goku’s ears, if only in comparison to how he was used to being spoken to. He had never been called by his Saiyajin name in such a way.

_God, I’m hungry._

Crouching down, he hoisted the head of the boar up over his own, and started dragging it into the trees. Vegeta stuck to his heels, as he expected.

“There’s a lil field out that-a-ways where I been sleepin’. I used to have a house out here when I was a kid, but it’s too small for me now and it’s fallen to pieces. I don’t have the stuff to fix it up, so I been thinkin’ of blowin’ a hole in one of the cliffs. With some good pelts, it would be real cozy.”

Listening to Kakarot’s plan, Vegeta couldn’t help but compare it to their fallen homeworld. He huffed out a laugh, catching the taller man’s eye.

Goku squinted at the other, thinking he was being laughed at for a moment. He was about to open his mouth, either to complain or play it off— but Vegeta spoke up again and halted his building offense.

“Cliffside homes were very popular on Vegetasei. I think that should serve you well, Kakarot. You should make it a high cliff. It will give you a great view of your new territory.”

Goku turned towards Vegeta, furrowing his brow. The older man glanced over, picking up his unasked question immediately.

“Technically, this entire planet would constitute as your territory, since you are the strongest one on it, but I don’t think there is a mountain that would allow you to view it all at once. You will have to settle for this forest.”

Goku abruptly stopped in his tracks, staring at Vegeta’s back. The older man stopped as well, turning to look at him in question. That heat came back a thousand fold, overtaking him. It felt like his veins were on fire, like he was fighting the greatest battle that would ever take place. It felt like he was staring up at Vegeta’s Oozaru, and knowing he was about to throw himself against a fierce, remorseless enemy. It was like staring up the moon, scalding white energy in his eyes and his brain, thrashing down his spine.

The simple way he had said it— like it was nothing, like it was obvious— The words crashed against Goku’s mind, throttled his heart, boiled his blood. So many years had gone by since they had fought for the first time— since Vegeta had seared his way out of the sky and into the ground. He had been strong, stronger than anything Goku had ever seen. He was confident, completely at ease. He walked around like everything was already his, like he was a God in mortal flesh.

That confidence, that determination, that _fire_ — Goku had looked at it and had the sight fried into his eyes. He would never be able blink without seeing the echo of it, branded behind his eyelids. Every step he had taken, every feat he had accomplished, he had done it in the image of that fire. When he had faced off against Vegeta, it had taken everything he had to not simply die at his feet.

He wanted to impress him, had always wanted to impress him. He wasn’t a simple third-class, he was Goku. He was _Kakarot._ He was so much more, and he desperately wanted Vegeta to see it. But years had passed, and Vegeta did nothing but sneer. He never impressed the man-- was never acknowledged. He was still just a third-class, a commoner, a clown. He was ‘silly Goku’, ‘damn fool’, ‘common trash’, ‘moron’, ‘monkey boy’.

After all this time, to hear those words so casually. _‘This entire planet should be your territory. You are the strongest one on it.’_

It was as if Vegeta had simply come out and said, _Kakarot, you are stronger than me._

Acknowledged, after so long. He simply could not believe it.

“Do… Do you mean that?” His voice shook.

“Mean what?” Vegeta’s didn’t.

Vegeta watched as Kakarot stared at him, something like desperation in his eyes. He slipped the boar off his head and stood up fully. Swallowing harshly, Vegeta gathered his nerve and made sure his body was centered. Now was as good a time as any to try and apologize, so he might as well not make it worse for himself by shaking like a leaf during it. His voice was steady, so his walk needed to be so as well.

He sauntered over, making sure to look as deeply as he could into Kakarot’s eyes. He held the Saiyajin’s gaze for a moment, before he glanced down. Then, he lifted his hands, palm facing up. Kakarot looked down, blankly gazing at his hands.

Without thinking, he put his palms over Vegeta’s. The sudden confusion over the gesture combined with the haze of _finally_ being acknowledged by the older Saiyajin, had sent his rational thinking steaming out of his ears. Seeing Vegeta put his hands up as if asking for something, he had simply put his own over them for lack of anything else.

Vegeta’s gaze snapped back up to Kakarot’s, at the touch against his hands. The man clearly had no idea what the gesture meant, judging by the complete lack of anything in his eyes. He was simply watching, waiting. But the act of putting his palms over Vegeta’s meant more than anything. Without any of kind knowledge or experience, he had basically just forgiven Vegeta, wholeheartedly.

_This means nothing. Nothing!_ Vegeta screamed at himself, but it didn’t even dent the onslaught of bubbling happiness and relief in his chest. A smile crept across his mouth without permission. He simply could not help it.  
  
He shifted his hands to where he could gently grasp Kakarot’s. Something that he had said had affected the man greatly, and it was clear that he did not understand what Vegeta was trying to show him. The perfect moment had passed. He would have to try again later, when he wasn’t trying to beat his expression back into compliance. He had come to the man not to apologize, but to discuss how to properly end that farce of a marriage.

“Come, Kakarot. Show me your home, and clean your kill. We have much to discuss.” With that, he turned away.

Goku picked up his meal, mind spinning. Behind Vegeta’s back, he smiled as well. It was biggest, most genuine grin he had made in ages. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE....
> 
> Not much to say about this chapter. Was the emotion rushed? Was Goku as elegant in your mind’s eye as he appeared to Vegeta? God, I hope so. Lemme know your thoughts, your complaints, which parts you liked or disliked. I’m always striving to make this story better!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More animals are eaten, blood gets everywhere, and Vegeta broods. Alien flirting is strange and unweildy.

  
The hike back to Goku’s preferred meadow was quiet. Both Saiyajin had far too much on their minds to bother with something like small talk. However, the weightiness of their thoughts made it seem as though only seconds had passed since they had set out. Far too quickly, they had reached their destination.

Goku’s kill was skinned and gutted, much the same as the deer had been. The only difference was in how close Vegeta stood to him, watching his hands move with steely focus. Goku privately entertained the thought that maybe Vegeta was trying to memorize where he was cutting. He couldn’t entirely hold back the quirk of his lips at the idea.

Almost without thinking, Goku had removed the heart and was moving to give it to Vegeta, bringing the man’s focus away from his hands and up to his eyes instead. The power that rested within the Prince’s gaze sent a chill running down Goku’s back. The intensity of the look slowed his movements, and he wondered briefly if he had somehow offended Vegeta. The heart of the beast was large and sopping, so big that it wouldn’t be able to be eaten in only a single bite. It was quite a prize.

Goku thought for a moment, glancing down at the treasure in his hand with nothing short of greed. His mouth was watering at the pungent smell of it gave off. The more he looked at it, the more Vegeta stood there blankly— the urge to yank his hand back and slap Vegeta away became stronger, slowly mounting. Before his hand could act on it’s own, Goku yanked his eyes away and thrust the heart at Vegeta.

A rough snort of impatience left him as Vegeta continued to stand there unmoving. Goku kept his head pointed strictly away from the man and the heart in his hand to lessen the irrational urge to punt Vegeta away.

Vegeta simply watched on, enraptured with watching Kakarot continue to thrust the best piece at him. The display was exceedingly flattering, in a way that was distinct to their species. A thought fluttered through him over what Bulma’s reaction would be to him thrusting the bloody, still-warm heart of a massive dead animal towards her. The immediate follow-up thought was if Kakarot had tried to do this with Chichi before. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would have rejected it immediately, and _very_ loudly. The thought of Kakarot standing in front of her, trying to give her such a prize and being callously rejected— it sent a bolt of offended anger through him. Even in a completely imagined scenario, that sort of humiliation being heaped onto Kakarot was far too much.

Chichi deserved no such prizes from the man.

Hesitation now banished by the image, Vegeta yanked off his gloves and tossed them a couple feet away. Kakarot’s eyes drew back to him, watching carefully. Vegeta held his gaze, staring straight into the man’s eyes as he reached for the heart. As he grasped it, he was immediately aware that he had never touched Kakarot with his bare hands before. For some reason, that seemed like an incredible waste to Vegeta. But he shook off that thought before it could get too far.

Goku’s grip tightened ever so slightly on the heart, causing it to drip blood out of one of the ventricles. Roughly swallowing, he forced himself to release the thing before he spoiled it. Vegeta looked on, blinking slowly, then tipped his head to the side elegantly. Without any words being spoken, Goku knew immediately what the gesture meant. It was a graceful little show of appreciation.

Goku calmed at the sight of it. He had never seen someone use it before, but he knew. He didn’t know _how_ he knew, only that he did. But he wasn’t the type to dwell on such things. He simply responded in kind— with an equally slow blink. His back tensed as if trying to flick a tail that was no longer there.

The blink was enough. Vegeta quirked his lips, then raised the heart to his mouth and bit down. A little spurt of blood shot across Vegeta’s face, but he gave no indication that he cared. His bare hands, so rare a sight, were stained red and dripping.

Vegeta watched as Kakarot’s eyes drew a path across his face and hands, and was suddenly struck with how intimate the exchange they were having truly was. They were practically courting at this point. Pheromones were lacing the air already, a thick scent that sent question marks flying across Vegeta’s senses. Kakarot’s scent was telling Vegeta that he was _very_ interested in what Vegeta was doing.

Goku blinked lazily, his eyes feeling oddly heavy. Vegeta’s gaze lingered on him, so very calculating. He could see a fierce cunning in those eyes. They were dark and sharp, without the haze of unfocused thought that humans often had. Their minds always seemed to be so wrapped up in knots that it left their bodies on autopilot.

Hazy gazes, unseeing eyes. A strange sort of blindness that Goku would never truly understand.

He shook off such useless thoughts and turned away from alluring Saiyajin Prince. With a flick of his knife, he swiped a piece of meat off the haunch of his catch, before swallowing it whole. A bit of it slapped wetly against his chin, leaving a trail. He licked his face, savoring the taste of fresh meat and warm blood.

The meal passed in relative silence. After Vegeta had quickly finished his offering, he sat beside Kakarot. A piece of meat was held out to him and this time, he didn’t hesitate before he took it. All too soon, they were scraping the bones with their tongues.

As Vegeta crunched down on the last of his share, he tried to rustle up what he was going to say. His gaze flicked towards Kakarot, watching as the man licked at his stained hands. He eyes were practically glued to the motion— Kakarot’s tongue flicking between his fingers, before shoving them into entirely in his mouth. Vegeta snapped his eyes away just as Kakarot was hollowing his cheeks around them with a pleased hum.

_Tch. Lewd bastard...!_

While Vegeta was trying to reform his brain from the mush Goku had just turned it into, the younger Saiyajin was busy wondering where he would put his new cliff-side home. There was a river within the foothills, so the exact location didn’t actually matter too much. Though to be fair, with how fast he could travel, it didn’t particularly matter how far he was from a water source.

A rough cough came from Vegeta, and Goku cut his eyes towards his fellow Saiyajin.

“So Kakarot— Before you go blow up a mountain to make your new home, I have some information to pass on.” Vegeta watched as the other’s attention honed in on him fully. That sort of stoic focus had seemed incredibly rare outside of battle, back when Kakarot continued to mingle amongst his little crowd of humans. Now, it seemed more natural on him.

Vegeta had to wonder how much of Kakarot’s cheerfulness and never-ending positivity had been put on for his friend’s benefit. Was the man simply more depressed, now that he had left everyone behind? Or was this his natural state?

”After speaking to Bulma, I couldn’t help but wonder if you had been made aware of how to break your marriage to Chichi.”

Goku’s brow furrowed. _Break the marriage...?_  He had assumed the marriage was over once he had left her behind. Apparently not.

”What do ya mean?”

Vegeta sighed, annoyed once again at humanity in general and its filthy planet. He crossed his arms, uncaring if his hands stained the sleeves of his suit.

”Well, from what I can gather, marriage is a legally binding agreement. Therefore, unless you take the proper steps to legally leave her behind, you will continue to be married. It doesn’t matter how far you fly, if you wish to marry another human or some other such nonsense— you can’t. You still belong to Chichi.”

A spark leapt across one of Kakarot’s hands, immediately drawing Vegeta’s eye. Kakarot’s Ki had spiked for a fraction of a second, and that tiny bolt had been the only visible indicator. A shiver ran up his spine at the wave of raw power that had pushed from Kakarot’s body in that one instant of lapsed control. It was completely undetectable by the vast majority of this planet’s inhabitants, and Vegeta felt his blood boil in satisfaction. It was almost as if he alone could feel the depth of who Kakarot truly was. It was a covetous, ugly feeling that he was quickly beginning to relish.

Kakarot was a prize. He was the best. He was powerful. Wild. Fast. Blinding to look at when rage overtook him. He was golden fury personified, a legendary warrior whose name would have been sung in the annals of Saiyajin history if only their civilization had survived.

Best of all, Kakarot was a Saiyajin. By right of blood, Kakarot belonged to him. He was the Prince, even if his title was practically worthless in the face of extinction. He had no kingdom, had no throne and no people. But he had _Kakarot_. That was enough.

With the Kais as his witnesses, he would be _damn_ sure that Kakarot received the respect he was due as a Saiyajin warrior of such high caliber. Buu, Hell itself, the death and rebirth of Earth, their fusion, their resurrection— all these things had forced him to reassess his thoughts on Kakarot. One thought had solidified from his musing on the last of their species.

_Kakarot is a prize._

First things first, freeing him from that farce of a bond with the human.

A snarl had since worked itself onto Goku’s face. Chichi still owned him. In the most tenuous of ways, he still belonged to her. It was infuriating! He certainly didn’t want to jump into another marriage, but the fact remained that even if he _did_ desire one, he couldn’t have it because Chichi still had him on a leash.  
  
But more than that, it was the idea that maybe this information had been hidden from him intentionally. He didn’t know if that was actually true or not, but if it _was..._

”How do I get out of it?” Goku asked. He watched Vegeta smile that fierce grin of his.

“ _Well—_ I’m not entirely sure, but Bulma would certainly know.” Vegeta raised his hand, halting any incoming argument. “Plus, if you go to her and show how serious you are in leaving that woman, maybe she’ll give up on trying to force you back into Chichi’s good graces.”

Kakarot calmed considerably at his reasoning, instead humming curiously at the statement.

“Bulma isn’t taking your departure as seriously as she should. I hope to change that.”

Goku tilted his head suspiciously. Vegeta had been pretty nice to him lately, and it was certainly a welcome change. But this...? Why did Vegeta suddenly care so much?

”Why do _you_ care?”

Vegeta blinked, taken off guard by the blunt question. Embarrassment washed over him like a tide. Was he being that obvious? His mouth clammed up and his back tensed. If he had a tail, it’d be squeezed tight over his waist.

”Well— I...” Vegeta abruptly crammed his hesitation back into the mental corner it belonged and powered through. “I am simply tired of Bulma’s nonstop rattling on about the subject! Nothing else!”

Kakarot narrowed his eyes, then looked away. _Damn it all, I could have used that opening to apologize! Or explain myself, or SOMETHING!_

“Well, it ain’t a bad idea. I’ll think on it.” It was better to go when he wasn’t irritated. His Ki control was a finely honed skill and any lapse in emotion or judgement tended to result in broken furniture.

Abruptly standing, he took in the forest’s scents. It was more out of habit and instinct than any worry for predators. He was unquestionably the most dangerous predator on the planet.

”Come on.” He jerked his head in the direction of the river. “We both need baths.”

Vegeta weighed his options for a moment before conceding to reason. He stood up as well, making sure to be graceful and smooth in his movements. The last thing he wanted was to show his embarrassment over apparently being so transparent with his growing fondness for the younger Saiyajin. He was most likely overthinking it all, but still— Kakarot’s blunt questioning of his motives gave him the impression that he was coming on too strong in his quest to appease the man.

_Maybe I should be a bit crueler to him? That would probably seem more normal, but it would completely defeat the purpose of being nicer to him. Damn it all..._

He huffed a bit, ignoring the curious glance that action earned. Ironing out over a decade of small cruelties was quite the challenge. He wanted to apologize, to repent for the years he’d wasted being caught up in foolish pride and petty grievances. But he did not want to appear weak to Kakarot... It was as if he was trying to perform a strange balancing act. Too nice or too cruel, too blunt or too subtle. He just couldn’t seem to get the mixture right. 

It all led back to that same circular thought. How to do it? _When_ to do it? What words should he use? Should he give gifts with the apology? Kakarot kept flattering him with juicy treats, so perhaps it would be good to repay the favor in kind.

_Yes. I’ll give him the good bits from my next kill, that will be a good start. It cannot be something he has already killed, that would be unoriginal. Maybe one of those big dinosaurs..._

Plans were already being drawn up in his head. He only had to pick one and enact it.

Soon, Kakarot would be free of the human woman. Vegeta would see to it. Then, he would make his own peace with the man. Then...

If Kakarot was willing, maybe Vegeta would go a little further. He was the ambitious sort, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me a fair bit of trouble. I got fired from my job and then landed two others. Life’s been hectic! It’s 3:16am and all i can think when i proofread this chapter is how fast things seem to be moving between goku and vegeta. SIGH. Vegeta troubles me. I feel as if im protraying him like he’s bipolar. Make up your mind, vegeta! Let me write you! 
> 
> This whole fic, i couldnt decide if he desperately wanted to fuck goku or not. I guess i finally just gave in to the former. Ah well! I hope you guys enjoy this, regardless of my feelings towards it. Let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan goes to school and talks to his friends a bit.

Gohan suppressed a sigh of annoyance. The last thing he wanted to think about was going to school. After Buu, he had wondered if it was worth it to go back to such a mundane existence. He had felt so wild after that fiasco. So restless. But after the peace was restored, that had faded away once again. It was always like that. He would be edgy and excited for _weeks_ after he fought a tough battle. Time dulled it, faded the feeling into the background. It happened this time like it did all the others.

But even with the battle over and done with, he continued to fight. This one just happened to be a much quieter war.

_Father... When did things go so wrong?_

His father had seemed so resolute. He was done with his marriage, he’d said. He would not come home. As far as Goku was concerned, living in the woods— he _was_  at home.

Somehow, Goku had become alienated from everyone he had ever known. When had it happened? Something had to have been the tipping point, but what? Had Otherworld changed him, or had this been boiling for years, hidden away in his father’s mind?

His questions were halted when his friends caught up to him. Erasa and Sharpner were bickering, Videl was keeping out of it. It was business as usual for the little group. As they took their seats in the grass around him, he felt a terrible feeling. Horrible. Unfathomable.

He wasn’t even that hungry, even though it was lunch.

_This emotional turmoil is going to be the death of me if it isn’t resolved soon!_

Regardless, he pulled out his lunch-capsule, and set about his task of destroying the food in front of him. To a Saiyajin, the pace of his eating would have been worryingly slow. His human friends, however, saw practically no difference.

“Gohan!” Erasa yelled, far too loudly for his sensitive ears. He startled predictably, even if it was more out of pain than shock.

“ _What,_ Erasa?! You don’t have to yell, I’m right here!” He snapped out, giving the girl a nasty look. The slight giggle she’d had at making him flinch was immediately halted. Sharpner and Videl goggled at him, while Erasa shuddered at the look she’d received. Gohan had a bone-chilling glare on the rare occasion he actually used it, and she’d unfortunately been the one to get it.

The scent of anxiety was immediately apparent to Gohan, and he looked down. “Sorry, Erasa. I didn’t mean to yell.”

”Geez, Brains. Stressed much? What, you get stuck on a math problem for once?” Sharpner snorted irritably, glancing over at Erasa. He put a hand on her back, gently comforting her for a moment. Sharpner had a tendency to be obnoxious, but he did genuinely care for his friends.

“What’s up with you, Gohan? You’ve been tense all day!” Videl questioned. She was the only one of their group to know who Gohan truly was. She knew he’d been through hell and back, but he was generally pretty rock solid emotionally. A little nervous, a little overly timid perhaps... But the point remained. If Gohan was actually shaken up about something, it must be pretty serious.

He sighed, a weariness washing over him. His very bones seemed to weigh him down. “It’s nothing. It’s just been rough at home lately.”

He looked down, staring at the grass without truly seeing it. Erasa perked back up when she saw how subdued Gohan looked. “What happened, Gohan? You can tell us, you know.”

He glanced up at them all. Their faces were so open and understanding, especially Videl’s. She would understand the most, considering he had no secrets from her.

“It’s just... You know that my dad comes and goes, right? He came back not long ago, after he’d been gone for a long time. Even when he was gone, my parent’s marriage was never in question. They were faithful to each other even if they didn’t see each other for years. They loved each other, truly. But now...”

He trailed off, unsure. He was never the best at lying. In fact, he was pretty damn awful at it. So he tried to pose his problem as vaguely as possible, however...

Erasa gasped, scandalized. “Did he shack up with another woman! What a dirtbag!”

Videl’s eyes bugged out, both at what Gohan was saying and Erasa’s reaction. “Erasa! Don’t jump to conclusions!” Her friend quieted instantly, giving a sheepish shrug.

”He didn’t ‘ _shack up’_ with anybody!” Gohan replied hotly, immediately defensive. The very idea of his father running off to have some one-off affair was as absurd as it could get. But it wasn’t the point... After a rough sigh, he forced himself to continue. “He just said that... He was leaving her. He wasn’t leaving because of an affair or anything like that. He said he was just... tired.”

A round of confused noises greeted him. Gohan rolled his hands emphatically, trying to stumble out the story.

”He said that he had been mistreated for years... By everyone. Mom, his friends, everyone he knew. At first, I wondered how that could be true. My dad is a great guy. He seems to get along with everyone he meets. But... Now I’m thinking that he may be right.”

Gohan looked up, taking in his friends’ faces. They had mixed reactions, but mostly it was just a sort of bewildered confusion. He had to remind himself that no one here had met his father besides Videl, and she had only _really_  met him once. They didn’t know his personality.

Sharpner’s voice broke his thoughts. “So... Your dad said she was abusive?”

”Sort of...? He didn’t outright say it, but I think he was implying that. Not physically or anything, but sort of like... She called him names. I think he was saying that everyone did that to him. He said he was tired of being called— well...” He looked up at them all again, before deciding to soldier through it.

“Dirty and poor and stupid and gross.” He ignored Erasa’s gasp of offense. “I don’t know who called him what, exactly. I think he meant that _everyone_ was saying stuff like that. Everyone was constantly talking down to him, all of the time. Lately, I’ve been thinking over his conversations with his close friends—you know, ones I’ve witnessed. And I think... I think he was right.”

Silence met him after that. All of them seemed to be in deep thought. There wasn’t a lot you could say after hearing something like that.

”So... Your dad left your mom?” Sharpner asked. Gohan just nodded in response.

Sharpner sighed loudly. “That’s heavy, bro.” Erasa and Videl hummed in agreement.

“Can you still see him?” Erasa piped up. Her heart hurt for Gohan. He was always so nice. He struck her as a genuinely kind person, so to see something like this happen to him— It burned at her. It made her want to wrap him up and cuddle it all better.

Gohan’s big, sad eyes looked up at her question. The urge to smother him in hugs and kisses pulled harder at her soul for a moment before she mastered the impulse. He wasn’t exactly the touchy-feely sort, something she had grudgingly accepted after quite a few dodged hugs.

“Yeah, I can see him at any time. I know where he’s staying. But I just... I don’t know if he wants to see _me_. I feel like— like maybe I contributed to it all. He told me that it wasn’t my fault, but I can’t help feeling like I could have prevented this if I had noticed something sooner.”

Videl jumped in, angry at the very idea. She knew he was powerful, almost to the point of incomprehension. She genuinely didn’t know if there was actually a limit to his strength. But some things weren’t preventable. You couldn’t pummel a marriage back into shape, and you couldn’t blast your parents into a healthy relationship. There was nothing he could have done.

”Gohan! Don’t you dare blame yourself for this! Your dad is a smart man, you should listen to him. He said it wasn’t your fault so it isn’t!” She cast her eyes across the others, as if daring them to contradict her. It was a pretty unnecessary gesture, consider they were already nodding along enthusiastically.

“Yeah! You had to get that brain from somewhere!” Sharpner added, trying his best to encourage the other boy. He’d been hostile to Gohan at first, but now that time had passed, he knew what a great guy the dude was on the inside. It was practically impossible to hate him if you spent enough time around him. Most people who had tried to cuddle up to their little friend group were doing it purely for their own gain, but it was very quickly made apparent that Gohan was different. There was just this sense of sincerity that the dude gave off.

Gohan just snorted derisively. “I think you guys are the only ones who’ve ever said my dad was smart. Everyone calls him stupid all the time. I used to think they were just teasing him, and maybe they thought so, too... But you can only be called stupid so many times before you get tired of it.”

Gohan just shoved his face in his hands, slumping over. The others just looked at him sadly. A gust of wind blew passed, rustling the leaves of the tree they were all sitting under.

Videl spoke up after a moment. “I think you should go see him. You said that his friends treated him badly. And your mom, too?”

Gohan nodded, almost begrudgingly. It was hard to accept the truth of the matter. But he had thought long and hard over every interaction he had witnessed. It was disturbingly common for his father to be talked down to. Even by his mother... He wondered if she even noticed she’d been doing it.

”That means that he’s completely alone right now. He needs support. I think that if you avoid him, it’ll seem like.... like, you don’t really care if he goes, you know?”

Erasa chimed in excitedly. “Yeah! He’s going through a lot and so are you! You should be there for each other!”

“Your mom, too.” The rest of the group turned towards Sharpner. “I mean, even if she’s in the wrong, she’s still your mom. You should get her side of the story, too. Maybe they’ll patch it up in the end, maybe they won’t. Either way, they’re both still your parents. Don’t just _abandon_ one for the other.”

Gohan nodded thoughtfully, tuning out Erasa’s happy chattering. “Awww, Sharpie! You’re so _progressive_ today!”

“Oh, shut up already! You don’t have to sound so surprised by it!” The boy turned away, blushing.

 _They’re right. I should go back and talk to Dad some more. Maybe bring Goten along...?_  His thoughts turned round and round in his mind, while he absently watched his friends start to bicker.

Videl watched him out of the corner of her eye, trying to judge if he really felt better after talking to them all. She was the only one out of her friend’s who’d met Gohan’s father, the only one who knew that Son Goku was one of the most powerful beings that currently existed. It was still hard to accept. Logically, her mind told her that yes, Son Goku was an alien. Son Gohan was also an alien, partly.

The boy sitting next to her was so unfathomably different from her— from her friends and everyone in her school. He tried so hard to hide what he was, and he actually succeeded pretty well. Sharpner and Erasa didn’t know what he was, _who_  he was. Videl herself was still reconciling it all. But one thing she _did_  know, was that she was going to try her best to understand him more. She knew he was different. Son Goku was even more different.

Well, _she_ was going to be different, too. She was going to be the best friend Gohan had ever had!

A fierce expression settled over her face as she made her resolution. It was a good thing Gohan was too distracted to see it. Otherwise, he’d be sweating bullets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> videls’ not like other dragonball girls, you see. She’s actually— my god, she’s actually a DECENT CHARACTER. Oh my god, the fuckin HUMANITY, my dudes! Im joking of course, but yeah. I actually like videl a lot. She seems like the most normal out of any of the female characters in dragonball. Besides best-girl erasa...
> 
> But yeah. Ive never written videl before. Or ANY of gohan’s school friends. I tried to give sharpner a sort of dude-bro feel without him being a douche. I feel like he has this hidden softer side that he buries to try and look tough. But videl and erasa have known him for a long time, so they know who he is under all that bravado. 
> 
> Also, how much did i fuckin over-emphasize the whole ‘VIDEL KNOWS AND NO ONE ELSE DOES’ shit??? I cant even tell at this point, but it feels like a hundred times and i apologize. 
> 
> I also apologize for the wait on this chapter! Turns out i got fired from my job, got a new one and then the lady who hired me suddenly decided she didnt have the money to hire me, so she fired me too. Like what the hell, do i have the plague or something? 
> 
> ANYWAYS, yeah. Lotsa stuff’s been happening for me, so this one was a little more delayed than i would have liked. Next chapter, we’re getting back into the swing of things, and who knows— maybe this time we will finally reach that wonderful bath-scene! Hahaha! Let me know your thoughts on this chapter! Was it disappointing? Was it everything you dreamed of and more? Tell me!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku and Vegeta take a dip in the river, and Vegeta remembers old buried feelings about a golden fury raging across a dying world.

Another walk passed in silence, with both Saiyajin observing their surroundings and enjoying the peace. Though, _walk_  was perhaps putting it a bit lightly. They did not run or push themselves in any way, but their steps were long and loping. The simple act of jogging leisurely beside each other through the deep green of the woodland-- it brought an equally simple pleasure. It was relaxing in the basest of ways to them.  
  
The river was down the mountain from them, so whenever they reached a steeper part of the terrain, they just stepped off the cliffs and let gravity carry them where it willed. If their feet touched a branch, they sprung off it to race through the leaves. No boulder or tree could impede their path as they glided around any obstacle like fish through water. They trailed flashes of bright color in their speed, a speed considered lazy only to themselves. The scent of fresh water and the sound of the quiet river pulled them to it like a magnet.  
  
Within minutes, they were at Kakarot’s preferred spot. It was wide and rushing, but not so fast that it could be considered rapids. Vegeta took it all in once more. The scents, the sounds, the sights… Everything was a wash of color and sensations. It relaxed him like Capsule Corp. never would. The building was too white, too sterile… Too clean and tidy, with no smells besides chemical cleaner and the scent of the human inhabitants.  
  
It reminded him of space. Of the vacuum beyond his stifling little pod. Of the cold power of Frieza and the weightiness of an invisible cage. Formless shackles pinning his feet to the spaceship’s hull below his feet, pulling his head down to bow to that fleshy lizard.  
  
The memories of it all brought a sour taste to his mouth. Frieza was long dead, once thought destroyed by the man in front of him before the deed was _truly_  done by an alternate version of his son. The other Trunks had killed the monster for good, yet Vegeta did not know if the boy had had any idea of what he’d accomplished. He had been so nonchalant… So uncaring for the end of the one who had taken everything from Vegeta. His title, his home, his people, his planet. His future, his past. His family. His great father and the halls they lived in.  
  
What had that boy known? About Vegeta, about Saiyajin, about _anything_. The boy had become a Super Saiyajin before his eyes like it was nothing. Like it was cheap. No, Trunks had not killed Frieza in Vegeta’s eyes. That honor went to Kakarot.  
  
After Vegeta’s death and subsequent resurrection, he had seen the state of Namek. He had felt the power of the Kakarot’s blows against Frieza from the other side of the world. The sky had turned dark as the planet rocked itself to pieces around them. He had flown to the dragon in the distance, not for a wish, but to see Kakarot. _And what a sight he had been._  
  
Glowing like a god, with sweat and blood dripping off multiple wounds. In that one pure moment, untainted by the doubts, the envy, the anger he had felt afterwards-- he had felt nothing short of awe. The picture of it was burned into his mind.  
  
Golden energy swirling around him, grating against his senses, burning his skin from the heat of that raging Ki. A dark smirk, promising terrible things. Bright eyes, cold and calculating. Gone was the sentiment, the softness. Gone was the pretend-human, the mask he wore for the Earthlings. He was Kakarot, and he was a Super Saiyajin. He was going to make Frieza _pay_.  
  
That image had never faded from his mind, and it likely never would.  
  
Goku looked up to see Vegeta staring off into space, eyes unseeing. He had seen that look many times on his friends’ faces and it always annoyed him. When he tried to speak during those times, they did not hear him. It felt as if he was being ignored— as if he was not worthy of their attention. But the other Saiyajin’s attention was soon pulled back to him when he started stripping off his clothes.  
  
As he slipped off his gi, he felt Vegeta’s eyes raking across his form, most likely cataloguing the different scars that were littered across his limbs and torso. Turning back, he locked eyes with Vegeta as he stepped into the river, a challenging smirk hinting at his mouth. The tightening of Vegeta’s fists was subtle but there none the less.  
  
“Well? You comin’ or what?” And with that, Goku purposefully turned away. His hearing was still zeroed in, however, so the slight growl that Vegeta let out might as well have been an explosion of sound in his ears. A wave of excitement rolled over him at the noise, as usual. Maybe Vegeta would be up for a spar later? Goku could only hope.  
  
Vegeta had tried to lock down his reaction to Kakarot turning his back to him, but it had slipped out regardless. The very idea of the man turning away from him, and in the _nude!_ Such a pointed showing of disinterest was nothing short of infuriating and the man damn well knew it, especially considering the immediate smell of Kakarot’s excitement at the noise. He was spoiling for a fight, that much was blatantly obvious. It almost made Vegeta want to spite him by being purposefully docile. _Almost_.  
  
Well, two could play at that game. Vegeta hummed thoughtfully, and as predicted, drew Kakarot’s eye like a magnet. He specifically did not look at the man while he stripped down, acting as if Kakarot wasn’t even there. He knew it was enraging, but that was the point, wasn’t it? It was unexpectedly difficult to keep the smirk from curving his mouth as he felt Kakarot’s gaze sharpening with each wasted second he spent drawing off his clothes.  
  
Only once he was finished folding his clothes into perfect little squares on the ground and lining them up _just so_ with his boots and armor did he deign to look down at the other. The true fire in Kakarot’s gaze was almost a physical blow it was so weighty. A little thrill shot down Vegeta’s spine at the look, and his mind brought back the image from Namek full-force. Golden flames and ice-cold eyes. Blood, sweat and sweet, _sweet_ victory. A beacon shining white-hot in the black skies of a dying planet.  
  
Glorious and free.  
  
Vegeta didn’t hold back the smirk at that point. It came out loud and proud, fondness apparent. Kakarot’s look was suddenly questioning, surprised at the sudden turn in Vegeta’s mood.  
  
Goku had to pause for a moment and rewind the last minute or so. Vegeta had been playing with him? It was a _game?_ Well, if that didn’t beat all. Goku smirked right back, then turned away again. If he had a tail at the moment, he would’ve even gone so far as to let it lash playfully. Maybe Vegeta would make a grab for it, just to teach him a lesson about displaying such a weakness so boldly. He would skip away and a chase would begin.  
  
It was an appealing little fantasy.  
  
Once he heard the slosh of Vegeta finally wading into the river, Goku set about looking for any good-sized rocks. There were plenty around that had been worn smooth by the river, it was just a question of finding one that fit comfortably in his hand. It was a pain to use silt to scrub at his skin and he could never quite get it all out of his hair when he was finished, but if push came to shove then he would just have to make do.  
  
_Aha!_ At last, he spotted one near Vegeta. Moving closer, he caught a questioning look from Vegeta but ignored it until he reached his goal. He held it up and Vegeta nodded, now understanding.  
  
As Goku worked the stone against his skin, he had to wonder about the level that they could communicate at this point. It seemed like only days ago that they were still at each other’s throats. It had actually been far longer since they were _truly_ out to harm one another, quite a few years in fact even if the spat they had at the recent World Tournament was counted. Make no mistake, Goku had been out for blood when Vegeta had killed all those people just to garner his attention, but he hadn’t even considered actually killing Vegeta in turn over it. Whether Vegeta felt the same was debatable...  
  
Plus…Well, thinking back on it, the whole thing _was_ weirdly flattering in hindsight. In a totally unnecessary and evil way, of course. But still… All of that evil business, giving up his family and Earth and everyone on it, just for a final shot and battling it out between them. Talk about an ego-booster! And the people had been wished back so there wasn’t really too big of an issue in the end. Even before everyone had been wished back, he should have been furious at the blood Vegeta had spilled in practically his name. But honestly, Goku had been having the time of his life. Facing down an opponent who could kill you in an instant if you slipped up the slightest bit? It was a heady rush, one made made even more scintillating when you could see the exact same rapture written across your enemy’s face. Was it a Saiyajin thing, or just a _Goku and Vegeta_ thing?  
  
He had been holding back his true power at the time, but he’d had reason for it. The fight would end far too quickly and he’d be immediately sent back to Otherworld if he used his third form. But thinking of holding back in such a way gave him an idea…  
  
Vegeta watched as Kakarot viciously scrubbing at his skin with a rock. While it wouldn’t exactly be cleansing, it would at least save them both from the overpowering myriad of smells baked into the vast majority of Earthling soaps. It did a decent job of scrubbing away the lingering blood and stale death that Kakarot had been carrying around, but it was doing nothing to wash away the growing excitement that he was throwing off. He was clearly working himself up over some kind of inane idea and Vegeta’s curiosity was getting more piqued by the second. He could practically smell the smoke coming out of Kakarot’s ears as the cogs in his brain fired on all cylinders.  
  
“Spit it out already, will you?” Vegeta ground out harshly. Let no one say that Vegeta was a patient man. Fortunately, it seemed Kakarot needed nothing else to set him off because he was immediately spilling the beans.  
  
“Well, ya remember when me and you was fightin’ after you killed all them people at the World Tournament? When we were both in Super Saiyajin 2?”  
  
Vegeta only hummed, honestly a bit embarrassed over his own dramatics at the time. Not to mention his failed martyrdom. The less said about that, the better. Though, it might have all been worth it just to pin Kakarot to a cliffside and beat the hell out of him for a bit. Now _that_ had been satisfying. If only for a moment, considering how Kakarot had proceeded to beat him in turn with the actual cliff itself. One dramatic repaid with another.  
  
“Well, we should fight like that again. Maybe not in 2, cause the Earth starts gettin’ a bit wrecked at that level, but still. We should fight like that again.”  
  
Vegeta blinked at the notion. It was an appealing idea, that was certain. And it wouldn’t be tainted by that cricket cretin blathering on in his head. Plus, with their higher powers locked, they would be much more equal and a lot weaker in attack power. It would help draw the battle out sweetly as they launched attacks at each other that were easy to avoid or merely absorb entirely.  
  
While he chewed on the idea, Goku turned back towards him and handed off the rock. Vegeta took it without question and went about scrubbing himself while deep in thought. Vegeta had a tendency to only tolerate fighting at full power. He didn’t enjoy limiting himself for others so it was likely that Goku would be denied. It was stupid to suggest it, really. Vegeta wanted battles to be fought quickly. He liked to win in a split-second to showcase just how overpowering he was. Which was really something to witness, but still. It helped Goku’s fresh idea none. So it was only a matter of time until--  
  
“Splendid idea, Kakarot.”  
  
_Huh?_  
  
Vegeta quickly finished up his makeshift bath and held out the rock for Kakarot to take back. The man seemed frozen at his words. After holding his arm out for a few moments, he pointedly cocked an eyebrow at the other and watched with growing amusement as Kakarot suddenly scrambled back to life. Snatching the rock away, he sloshed around uselessly for a second, glancing suspiciously at Vegeta as if he was about to abruptly turn into an Oozaru and snatch Kakarot up at the quickest opportunity.  
  
“ _What,_ Kakarot?”  
  
“Nothin’... You’ve just never said an idea of mine was good before.” He turned sullen for a moment.  
  
Vegeta just snorted. “Then maybe you should have good ideas more often. Come on. We’ve stood around for long enough. We should discuss your next move regarding that harpy of yours.”  
  
Goku’s eyes snapped to Vegeta, instantly blazing. “She’s not mine.”  
  
Vegeta simply smirked. “And you aren’t hers. It would do well for everyone else to realize that. Which is why we need to confront Bulma and eventually Chichi. Paperwork is needed, agreements over property and other such petty things. There’s work to be done.”  
  
Vegeta plowed through the water, aware of Kakarot’s gaze cataloging his form once more. He spun around to catch the man’s eyes, unashamed to be naked. His scars were proof of his survival, his prowess. Just as Kakarot’s were.  
  
After a long moment, Goku finally looked up into Vegeta’s eyes. A smile slowly bloomed across his face, though he wasn’t quite sure why he was doing it. But Vegeta smirked in return, so it must have been good.  
  
“Whatever you say, Vegeta.” A simple statement and a casual one, but it felt important somehow. Like it didn’t mean anything quite yet, but would in the future sometime. Ah well. Time would tell.  
  
Goku moved through the water and felt it part around his legs. Heard the sound of its rushing energy, felt the native ki that it held. Smelled the forest and enjoyed the green of it. And with no effort at all, joined Vegeta on the riverbank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT'S RIGHT DUDES. WE BACK IN. It's been a long wait. In that time, I've moved to a completely different state, left my parents home for the first time, and gotten a new job. I've had surgery on my ears, gone to the dentist for the first time in 10 years, and finally rebroke 90 pounds. It's been a trial, but progress has been made. I keep moving forward and finally FINALLY, this story does as well. Was this chapter worth the wait? Somehow I doubt it, but regardless, it feels good to post something again. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, be they good or bad. I hope you enjoy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta and Goku have a small, impromtu battle in the mountains just for the fun of it. Meanwhile at CC, Trunks thinks about what he does and doesn’t know.

As the sun reigned high in the sky, Vegeta and Goku skipped back up the mountain. They stuck primarily to the trees, jumping from branch to branch. Sometimes they grabbed one with a hand, pausing only long enough to flip around it and spring off. At the beginning, Goku had caught Vegeta giving a quiet little hum at his antics. Then, Vegeta had darted in front of him to catch into the branch in front of Goku, setting them up for a collision. He’d had to quickly correct his course mid-air so he didn’t smash into the smaller saiyajin— an action that Vegeta apparently thought was quite a spectacle considering the little hum had become a loud laugh. Goku had huffed at him but continued, only to be darted in front of again.   
  
With a rough snort, Goku carefully aimed and sprung off towards Vegeta. He’d purposefully dropped down just enough to grab onto Vegeta’s feet, and just like that— Goku was cackling as he made off with a pair of white boots.   
  
“ _Kakarot_!“ Vegeta shouted, caught somewhere between appalled and delighted. He couldn’t hold in the laugh that crept out between his words as he screeched at Goku’s back that was rapidly pulling away. “Give me back my _boots_ — What even—“   
  
As Goku peeked back at Vegeta, he could see a wild joy in the man’s eyes that echoed his own. The chase was on.   
  
They flew through the trees at twice the speed they’d been going, leaves whipping back with enough force to flay the skin from a human’s bones. To the wild saiyajin, they felt like feathery caresses that only added to the joy of going screaming through the forest.   
  
Birds were flying up in panic as they slung their way from tree to tree. Goku could hear squirrels and boar and deer, foxes and bunnies and monkeys, a myriad different kinds of bugs and butterflies— all of them shouting their panic in different ways as he and Vegeta bulldozed up the mountain. The sun was beating down through the greenery, the earth sending up an answering call with its wet scent. All these things and more were nothing compared to hearing a laugh answer his own as it chased behind him.   
  
But he was Son Goku, Kakarot, the first Super Saiyajin in 3000 years! He played, but he played to _win_. Vegeta was creeping closer and closer, almost upon Kakarot. The game was drawing to an end when suddenly— a flash of white was shooting out to the side. Kakarot had thrown one of his boots.   
  
”Cheating bastard—!” Vegeta screeched, his tone promising pain. It only made Goku more excited. That spar he had envisioned might be coming sooner than expected. Goku paused, watching as Vegeta chased after his own boot and caught it with little issue out of the air. As Vegeta slung himself around a tree to fly back towards him, Goku shot the other boot in the opposite direction.   
  
Vegeta was practically frothing as he caught his other boot inches from touching the ground. He could see Kakarot grinning down at him, his big, stupid rump sitting nonchalantly on a branch, not a care in the world.   
  
Flinging himself upwards, he aimed to tackle Kakarot off his branch and plant him in the dirt. But midway through his launch, he saw Kakarot tense, suddenly darting his feet up to catch him with a kick. A move like that wouldn’t lead to much more than a bruised ego, even combined with Vegeta’s traveling speed— but even _that_ was too high a price for the Prince to pay.   
  
A quick flip had him connecting with Kakarot foot to boot, his own pair still held in his hands. He timed his spring with Kakarot’s kick, sending himself flying backwards. Thrusting his hands out, he caught a branch and flipped around it, sending himself shooting directly back to Kakarot. He saw the saiyajin’s eyes widen at the move, and grinned at the expression. A moment before the kick he was intending to land right in Kakarot’s chest, he saw the other move his arms up to guard against the blow—   
  
A laugh came barking out of Vegeta as he simply parted his legs. Goku flew off the branch like a rocket, caught in a trap of his own making as Vegeta’s legs curled against the sides of his chest. The air left him with a loud _whuff_  sound as he crashed into ground.   
  
Sitting on top of Kakarot in such a position, he had the man completely locked. He could feet Kakarot struggling to free his arms, which prompted Vegeta to cross his own arrogantly as he simply used his own Ki to push himself down harder.   
  
Goku looked up, seeing Vegeta preening on top of him. He looked like the cat that got the canary, smug as could be with his own boots in one hand. The strange sight shocked another laugh out of him, and just as quickly as the entire debacle had taken, Goku gave up.   
  
“Alright, alright, you win. Let me up, already!” Vegeta looked down, the smug smile giving way to a more genuine one as he stood up. Goku rolled back and flipped up onto his feet, and looked at Vegeta putting his boots back on. A roll of his neck and a gloved hand slicking its way through his hair and he was ready once more.   
  
“Lead on, Kakarot.”   
  
Goku hummed in response, flicking his eyes across Vegeta one last time, then moved forward at a more sedate pace than before. His new home was just up the mountain, waiting to be carved out.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
Goten was tired of being sad. Trunks was also tired of Goten being sad. And the reason for this sadness was Goten’s dad running off. He knew Goten didn’t know his father very well and had been very excited once it was decided that Goku could come back to life. Son Goku— _Kakarot_ as his own father called him, was kind of an enigma to Trunks. He knew only second-hand things about the man, and very few of those second-hand things. He had not really known _anything_ about the man up until a few years ago.   
  
Bulma and Gohan hadn’t really mentioned him more than in passing sometimes, before Goku— Kakarot?— had come back. His father had mentioned him sometimes, but only during training and only when he thought Trunks would not hear. Sitting outside the Gravity Room, he could hear a lot. Mostly he heard snarls of anger and rage. Explosions. Fists and feet thumping as they hit training dummies and robots.  
  
But very rarely, he heard nothing. A bitter and heavy silence. It felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders when he heard that emptiness, that lack of sound. He usually ran off quickly during those moments, uncomfortable listening to to nothing at all. But once, he had ran off not to play— but to his mother. He had been curious.   
  
When asked about his father’s moods, his mom had only given him a surprised, then sad look. She had crouched down, and taken his little hands.   
  
“Your father hasn’t had very many good things in his life, Trunks. So I think when he finds a good thing, he doesn’t know what to do with it, so he breaks it. He tried to do that with Goku, but it didn’t work. Goku wouldn’t break. So your father tried to ignore him instead. But then one day, Goku was gone. And now, I think maybe Vegeta misses him. And now that he can’t break Goku, he breaks himself instead.”   
  
Trunks had looked down at the ground, deep in thought. Then, he had looked back up at his mom, and asked a simple question. “Do _you_  miss Goku, Mom?”   
  
His mom’s eyes widened, then grew wet for a second. And then she blinked and it was gone. “I do, Trunks. I think every one does.”   
  
And now, Trunks was looking at the ground again, deep in thought. He knew very few things about Goku-Kakarot. He knew that Goku was a good thing that couldn’t be broken, and he knew that his father liked Goku. Enough to want to break him, and had missed him when Goku was gone. Enough to kill a whole lot of people when Goku hadn’t fought him at the World Tournament.   
  
Trunks shivered at that memory. He could see his father’s face in his mind, smiling a smile he had never seen. It had looked wrong. A smile was supposed to be happy, but his father’s smile had just looked... _angry_.   
  
Trunks liked to think that he knew his father pretty well. His father was a great man, a _Prince_! He was strong and dignified. But he was terribly cold. He did not often smile or laugh. His back was straight and his eyes were like black ice.   
  
But that smile at the Tournament hadn’t been cold. It had been like a forest fire. It had been blazing. As smoke had flooded the arena, Trunks could see the ash of what used to be people swirling at his father’s feet.   
  
Regal. Dignified. Strong. _Scalding_.   
  
Energy had boiled from his father’s skin, had oozed like lava from blue-fire eyes. And for the first time, Trunks thought he could understand what his mom had meant. Vegeta could not break Goku, so he would break himself instead. And just like his mom had told him, Goku could not be broken. His father had looked like he was coming apart at the seams, but Goku? The man had powered up just as high as Vegeta, with little more than a grimace. All that violence and death in front of him and Goku had only frowned. Like someone had given him a particularly sour lemon to chew on.   
  
And that had been another realization. Maybe his father wasn’t cold. Maybe on the inside, he was burning all of the time. Maybe Goku was the cold one. He joked and smiled warmly, gently. But those eyes... His father’s like raging fire. Goku’s like hard, frozen ice.   
  
And then they were off, gone like the wind together. Disappearing to battle it out. Two opposing titans. An epic battle he would have been happy to have read in a storybook. But living it— _seeing_ it had been different. He hadn’t been happy. He had just been scared.   
  
Trunks shivered again. He didn’t want that to happen again. He wanted Goten to be happy. He wanted his mom to stop worrying about Goku— wanted Gohan to come over and play, not just call the phone quietly— wanted a lot of things all at once.   
  
It was always _Goku_  at the root. His mom’s wet eyes, then Goten’s. His father’s heavy silences, then blazing rage.   
  
Goku. Kakarot. Whoever he was. Warm outside, cold inside. Like a burrito that got taken out before it was cooked all the way. Wrong. But maybe that was the key?  
  
Maybe his mom had misunderstood. Maybe Goku couldn’t be broken because he had already always been that way. Maybe he just needed to be fixed, instead? He needed to finish cooking!   
  
Trunks heaved a sigh, then tipped backwards. Old grass blew up around him from where it had been cut a couple days before, as he flopped onto the ground. All the deep-thinking was giving him a headache. He really didn’t know anything about Goku. He might have been seeing things on that day, imagining things about Goku’s eyes. His father’s eyes.   
  
But there was one thing he _did_  know for sure, and it was that Goten was sad that his dad was gone. So maybe they just had to bring him back? Maybe if he and Goten just went to him and asked him, he’d come back and all of this would just be another bad memory.   
  
No heavy silences. No wet eyes. No sad Goten.   
  
Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy?   
  
Flipping back up, Trunks’ slapped the grass off his bum and powered up. Like a bullet, he shot upwards into the sky. The breeze smelled nice and the blue sky overtook the memory of blue eyes. Capsule Corp. got smaller and smaller. From a bowling ball to a marble, then a dot. And then it was gone and Trunks was wheeling through the clouds.   
  
‘If you want something done, do it yourself.’ He’d heard his mom say that _tons_  of times. Well, he was gonna do it himself! As soon as he collected Goten, of course.   
  
_That_  required no thinking at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back in TN! Indianapolis was a bust. It was a short couple of months, but I learned a lot. Friendships where created and then lost just as quickly. Roommates are tough to deal with, especially when emotional boundaries are fuzzy and everyone is their own brand of hot-head. Even if the experience itself was poor, the knowledge I gained was good. Life, as usual, seems too fast and too slow all at once. 
> 
> But enough about me! 
> 
> Did you like this chapter? Did you hate it with a fiery passion? Tell me in the comments! Your honest thoughts are invaluable. I think I wrote Trunks, and even the memory of Bulma, as too insightful. Am I correct in this? 
> 
> Either way, I’m glad that Trunks is here, and of course... Where he goes, Goten will follow. I look forward to Goten’s arrival and the ruckus the two of them will inevitably cause. 
> 
> See yall next time

**Author's Note:**

> I dont really know where this came from or where this is goin so i guess we’ll find out together!!!!! The summery is SUPER dramatic so i hope i live up to it hhhhhhhhh


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